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Topic: Winter (11/14/05)
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TITLE: A Winter's Remembrance | Previous Challenge Entry
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11/20/05 -
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“Flight 435 to Houston boarding at gate 2A in five minutes.”
I glanced over at my husband with a smile, butterflies swirling in my stomach.
“Ready to board for those in rows 10 and up.”
The lump in my throat felt like every beat of my heart pulsating…weakness came over my body like a wave. My husband held my hand, trying to relieve my anxieties.
“Well, here we go kids…Ready for the plane ride?” Said their dad, cheerfully.
Once on the plane I tried to keep my mind on our three small children.
“Are you kids comfortable?…Remember now, read quietly and when the stewardess offers you a drink, tell her what you want and then say thank you...”
“It won’t be a long flight and then you’ll get to meet mommy’s daddy.”
It felt so strange to say…daddy…I hadn’t known my father growing up and now twenty years later we are going to be face to face. He and mom divorced when I was just four years old and they felt it best for him to stay out of my life.
I really don’t know what to expect…he sure sounded happy on the telephone and anxious to meet his grandchildren.
************
“Brrring….Brrring…answering the phone, my husband cupping his hand over the mouthpiece, whispered to me…It’s your dad.”
He sounded just the way I’d expect of a father and grandpa
“Your letter came today…I’ll get tickets sent to you right away, Honey…What do the kids like to play with?…I’ll have some toys here for them, so don’t worry about a thing.”
I had hoped the address was correct. On the envelope of the letter I had put, “please forward to sender” and sealed it with prayer. My uncle said it was the last known address he had for my dad. I had so prayed for God to help me find him. It was amazing that I could even locate my uncle, in New York with a name like Smith…how in the world could you narrow this find…with God all things are possible.
“Lord, I have to find my dad…please lead me, Lord…I have no idea where he is…Is he even alive?…I have to know…I have to tell him about you, Lord…before I leave this life…I have to see him.”
So many years had gone by. I was married and now the mother of three small children. My dad was retired from the military, remarried, with no other children and living only a few states away from me. He could have been anywhere in the world…but God had him within reach.
“I’ll be right there at the gate when you come off the plane, Sweetheart.”
Sweetheart?…how many times had I dreamed of having a dad that would call me this... Is this a dream….no, I heard his voice…I’m going to visit him…I whispered a prayer that I’d put the empty past behind me
**************
Looking out the plane window, my thoughts captured a winter scene of snow covering the world white and clean, and Christ’s righteousness covering me
“Oh, Lord…as the Bible has assured me…*though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow*…I pray my father will receive your gift of salvation”
“Ladies and Gentlemen please take your seats as we make our final approach into the Houston area.”
My husband winked and reassured me that everything would be okay.
As I stepped off the plane my eyes fixed upon a man I recognized from photographs,
My dad…
Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to focus and reach for his stretched out arms…everyone around us cried as my husband relayed our story.
Kneeling down to the children, he met each one with a hug.
Lifting his eyes up to meet mine, he said ”Thank you…for remembering me.”
*****
The winter of 1979, a memorial of God’s faithfulness.
* Isaiah 1:18 (KJV)
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