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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Father (as in paternal parent, not God) (04/10/08)
The Porch Swing

If you didn’t know my father-in-law John you really missed something special in your life. A husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather, he was a friend to everyone and he never seemed to meet a stranger. His family, church, and scouting were the main topics of his life. Sit down and talk to John and one of those topics always started the conversation. Before every meal in my twenty-seven years of knowing John you didn’t pickup a fork until the blessing was asked. I knew my father-in-law was a praying man, but not to the extent that I found when he was ill with stomach cancer. Visiting him at the hospital, no matter how ill he was, that day, there was always prayer.

One story that will always stick with me about my father-in-law is a story of him and his porch swing. Many times when things were not going well or there was a decision to be made, he would tell his wife Pat, he was going out on the porch swing and “talk to God.” A setting as simple as a porch swing, looking over the flowerbeds and listening to the birds. Can you think of a better place to have a relationship with Jesus?

Five months after John went home to be with the Lord, his granddaughter Amanda was married in a beautiful outdoor chapel. Throughout the service you could feel his presence in the outdoors that he so loved. The pastor had mentioned how the groom had wanted to grow old with her on their porch swing. I started thinking about Dad and wondered if it had come full circle. I pray they both swing and talk to God just as her “Poppy” did. I hope I can go out and “talk to God” on my swing for many years to come. As long as I live, I will always look at my swing, think of Dad, and look upwards to my Heavenly Father. I thank my loving wife Laurie for sharing her “praying” father with me for all these years.


And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6: 18
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Dee Yoder
04/17/08
What a wonderful memory you've shared in this article! It's nice to know that a father-in-law/son-in-law relationship can be so warm and loving. John sounds like he was a very special man.
Jan Ackerson
04/20/08
John sounds like a wonderful man--thank you for introducing us to him.

Take a look at these two sentence parts:

...you didn't pick up a fork until the blessing was asked...

and

...throughout the service you could feel his presence...,/i>

Then, try the same sentences with "I" in place of "you". See how much more personal that little revision is? Rule of thumb: avoid 2nd person references.

Keep writing--you're doing really well!