My father was a good man. In his early twenties, he set out
on a successful journey. Serving in the United States Air Force, he was
deployed to the Vietnam War and that is where he found his passion in life.
While serving our country, he was part of an operative canine training unit. He
trained dogs to smell for bombs and land mines. Dad found a calling, while
saving lives. After Vietnam, he continued to work for the United States Air
Force while making great strides in detection with dogs. His work was so well
noted that the Secret Service sought out my father. They recruited him to work
at the training facility in Beltsville, MD. These are the days I remember most
about my father.
In the second grade, my mother and father divorced. I stayed
with my father in Maryland and my mother moved to California. It was just dad
and I living in a three-bedroom townhouse for most of my life. Dad had access
to all of the ‘secret’ spots in Washington. He often took me to work while
being a single parent. He had no choice.
So, I would put on my prettiest dress and come with him to work. I watched him
talk to senators and presidents, give tours to foreign ambassadors and
officials. I’ll never forget bringing my cabbage patch doll and propping it on
the president’s podium in the White House Press room while my father worked.
The director of the secret service training facility came to him one day and
asked if he could help him find out how so much counterfeit money was being
brought into the United States. Dad asked if he could have some of the money
and that he would find out and report back to him. Next thing you know, my dad
had found the exact bleaching element used in the counterfeit money and trained
a dog to detect it. He and the director of the training facility went down to
Miami International Airport and tested the dog on a plane that was suspicious.
Well, when the second piece of luggage that came off the airplane, my dad’s dog
he had trained, sat. That was the sign that this is it! While my dad was
shaking and fearful of a failed tactic that he had spent months training for,
the secret service personal opened the luggage and it was filled with
counterfeit money! Dad soon become the Director of Canine Detection for the
Secret Service and had a much bigger office for me to play in! A couple years
later he was offered a job by Auburn University to build a school for
biological detection in canines. This was a sect of the field my dad had always
wanted to work in. It was a career that brought him back home to Alabama. It
was while at Auburn that he met a beautiful, blonde, loyal and loving
companion, Amber his lab. Amber was there with me until his final breath on
October third. Two days prior to dad dying, she jumped up in the bed with him.
She laid her head, eyes sad with pain, on his stomach and was with him on the
bed all day. In the afternoon, Amber knew it was time to love on me. Thirty
minutes before my father passed away, Amber jumped in my lap. She and I watched
my father take his final breath. I could not move her for 30 minutes after his
passing. She did not budge and listened to me weep and morn my earthly father.
My father was there for every school conference, play,
choral concerts, and took me to all of my cheerleading practices. He watched me
cheer and tried to add pointers here and there. He encouraged me to play
softball and become athletic like he was in high school. One game, when I
struck out for the third time, it was my dad that saw the catcher drop the
ball. I heard him yell, “Run Laura, Run!” So I did, I ran as fast as I could
because that’s what dad told me to do. Well, the catcher over-threw the ball to
the first baseman so I heard him again yell, “Run Laura, Run!” This went on
until I finally made it to home plate. I could hear my dad’s praises and saw
him beaming from ear to ear. My softball career ended with only one homerun due
to fielding errors, but that didn’t matter to my dad. He was so proud of me. He
bought me the most expensive bats and gloves, anything I wanted to pursue my
failed attempts to become athletic.
I tell you all of this to give you a glimpse of the
intelligent successful man, protective father, and loving man my dad was to me
and to many others around him. It wasn’t until trials during his career at
Auburn that brought him to this church. He faced many troubled and fearful
days, until he met his faithful friend, Ray Johnson. It was at a small little
country grocery store that my dad worked at until he could draw retirement. My
father was more depressed and hurt than I had ever seen him. You see, my father
put his passion into his work, which was what made him get out bed. After no
longer working for Auburn, my dad was at the lowest point of his life. It was
this body of church that sought him out and picked him up. I’ve always prayed
for dad to find a church family and continue his relationship with the Lord.
You are an answered prayer. You made my father feel worthy and loved. Brother
Mike fed him with the words of Jesus, Traci in her beauty inside and out sang
songs that lifted my father’s spirits. You all allowed him to tell his many
stories of success, relive the pride he had in his family, and look at
countless pictures of his grandkids.
It’s at those darkest hours that Jesus steps in and gives
strength to the weary and power to the week. He says in Isaiah 40:28-31:
…The
Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
You see, I too, felt this way in the past few months. My
father has been there with me through all the trials and snares of my life. It
has been more difficult and painful than some of you can imagine. At times I
thought I was literally being choked by the devil himself. A year ago, my son
had this dream.
Colby's dream (told by Colby one year ago)
I always wondered… Jesus, what are you
trying to tell me through my sweet child’s dream?! Was it that I should feel
comforted in that Jesus, himself, being invited in our home by Colby or was it
that I am just too bossy? It was when I stayed with dad in his hospital room,
just after his first knee surgery to wash out the infection that had riddled
his body that I thought; “I just can’t do this anymore. I feel so alone and
scared. My earthly father cannot help me anymore.” And that is when I picked up
my bible and God showed me Psalm 91:4, “He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield
and rampart.” At that point, God was transitioning me to no longer depend on my
earthly father, only the heavenly one to get me through these tough times.
He is the one that brought me to my knees several nights as
I cried like a baby and begged for mercy. God gave my dad assurance and
pleasure in knowing that one day he will see his mama and daddy in heaven. In
his final days, he yearned for that…he asked for it. He wanted to be home. I
found myself in those final hours, shouting to my father to go home, run home, like
daddy did for me when I ran my one and only homerun. And he did. He ran to
first base, looked back and gave me assurance that I was a wonderful daughter.
He ran to second and told Chris that God couldn’t have given him a more perfect
son-in-law. He ran to third- saw his beautiful grandchildren and smiled in
adoration. And finally, he ran home-into the arms of Jesus. My father’s strength is renewed, soaring on wings like
eagles, running and not growing weary, walking and not fainting - all of his
cares and troubles washed away.
He is rejoicing
with the Lord and I am the one beaming from ear to ear listening to Jesus say,
“Well done good and faithful servant. Well done!”
