Treasuring Life

Are your mother and father still alive? How many more times do you think you will see them? Spend time with them? If you see them even only twice a year, you might only see them another 10 to 20 times. But then again, you may never see them again. We are not promised anything in this life. 

As I get older, I find myself thinking about things that I didn't so much, even only a few years ago. The perspective changes as the years add on. The values we put on time and things change. What was once so important is no longer as important. It's all part of LIFE, if we are so fortunate as to have longer lives than some get to enjoy.

The stages in life are amazing to observe. My own dad didn't make it to his 45th birthday, having succumbed to cancer at only 44 years old. He left a young wife of 37, and three kids ten and under. Somehow we made it through. I don't consider what I went through as something that many now would label as “trauma.” It was part of life, even this thing called death. It could come at any time. It is not to be feared, but accepted as part of the natural progression. It is the “unknown.” We can only imagine what it is. 

Back in 2011, a woman who had cared for my dad when he was sick in Decatur Memorial Hospital, sent me this. 

BettyStelzriedeMcLean said: 7/2/2011 12:46:28 PM (GMT)

I took care of your father Rev. Hayden at DMH many years ago. I was also a member of the Illiopolis Christian Church, baptized in 1949. Your father taught me not to be afraid of dying and just wanted you to know how much he has helped me in my life, by just knowing him in the hospital. God Bless you and your family. Glad to see you are doing so well. I live in Fl. now.

My dad was a pastor of the Illiopolis Christian Church when he passed - from 1958 to 1962. He was very loved, and the people of the church and community rallied around him and our family to help care for us during his sickness of three and one-half years. And in the midst of it all, we went on living life. 

The above brief testimony is one of the most powerful and meaningful things I have ever heard concerning my dad. My own memories are sparse and faded, just bits and pieces of so very much that life is made of. We don't remember too many fine details, but all together it makes us who we are. 

I trust that my dad had a quite sincere faith in the one, true living God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He was involved in the service when I was baptized on Easter of 1962, though he was too sick at the time to perform the baptism. A fellow pastor (Bill Hall) performed the “dunking” in the tank of water, as my dad read from the Scriptures. I am not sure if it was planned like this, but as I was baptized my dad read from one of the passages, “…and a voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.’” From how the story goes, there were few dry eyes in the church. 

My dad passed from this life a few months later, just after my 10th birthday. Though I did not know him well, or that long in my life, I deeply trust that my dad treasured me and loved me. Same for my mom, who lived to age 70. How I wish I could spend even one hour with my dad again. Or my mom. What I wouldn't give…

The Scripture says to honor your father and mother (Ephesians 6.1-3, and elsewhere). Not only if you think they deserve it. Not if they were perfect. Not if you feel like it. It's because it is the right thing to do, in how God created things. Parents are not perfect - but they are your parents. 

Treasure your parents. Treasure your kids. You don't get to choose them. You get to treasure them. If it was not so good with them, either your parents or kids, may it still be a life lesson for you. You might even have the opportunity to be a parent someday.