Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Happy (07/12/07)
-
TITLE: Here He Comes! Here He Comes! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Mariane Holbrook
07/16/07 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
I stood on tiptoe at the curb as I did every afternoon waiting for Daddy to return from work so he could put down his black metal lunch pail and pick me up for a warm hug and a kiss. He’d say, “You make me so happy waiting for me every day that I could sing a happy song:
“O happy day, that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.”
I inhaled the familiar sooty railroad smell from his gray work shirt and saw that his hands were still dirty from working in the hot sun as a pipe fitter but I didn’t mind. This was “Daddy-boy,” as I called him.
Though he was tired from the bus ride and the final six-block walk to our house, he always carried me the rest of the way home. Four years old and the youngest of six children, I was daddy’s girl. Often on hot summer nights, we’d all sit on the front porch and talk about everything from politics to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’d had his bath, put on fresh clothes and splashed shaving lotion on his face. His bald head was so shiny and smooth, he’d joke, that he combed his hair with a wash cloth. On those wonderful evenings, Daddy and Mother would sing or hum softly the rest of the hymn:
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
One day when I was seven, I noticed Daddy didn’t sing when I met him at the corner. Still he hugged and kissed me and because it was payday, he smiled and handed me his special treat from his empty lunch pail: Necco wafers. I carefully extracted the black ones and popped them one at a time into Daddy’s mouth, laughing as he hid them inside his cheek so I’d think he’d swallowed them whole.
That night my 15-year-old sister overheard Daddy and Mother talking softly in their bedroom. There was an urgency in Daddy’s voice.
“The bank has repossessed our house, honey,” Daddy told Mother. “The Depression is so bad that millions of men have no work at all. I’ve taken the second cut in pay myself. We haven’t been able to make a house payment in several months so the bank has given us one month to vacate. I wrote to my brother, Irvin, asking for a $500 loan. That’s all we need to pay off the mortgage. He responded with a firm “No,” saying if we hadn’t given our tithe to our church all these years, we wouldn’t be in the fix we’re in now.”
My sister said she heard Mother and Daddy kneel by their bed and pray. They thanked God for all his blessings and quoted some favorite scripture verses. Then they started singing!
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day.
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.
With every verse, their voices grew stronger until they had sung all five verses they had memorized.
My sister slid down to the floor outside their bedroom. She began to cry and whispered this prayer:
“Dear God, I want the same kind of faith that Mother and Daddy have. I’m sorry for all my sins. Will you wash my heart clean in Jesus’ blood and make me born again?
She dried her tears, slipped away quietly to her bedroom and sat alone on her bed to seal this commitment.
Mother and Daddy lost their house and we moved into a rental property. Rather than save for another house, they helped put six of their seven children through college. All but one are born again Christians. Two became missionaries and one married a pastor.
When our parents went to be with the Lord, “Oh Happy Day” was sung at both of their memorial services.
At Daddy’s service, I held a roll of Necco wafers tightly in my hand. Earlier in the day, I removed the black ones, placed them in a tiny white box with a blue satin ribbon, and discreetly hid the box in the coffin where no one could see it but me and my beloved Daddy-boy.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
