fatherly wisdom

i've been thinking about my dad a lot lately. maybe it's because i'll see him on Easter. (no, that's not the only time i see him!) sometimes, i need time to prepare myself to see him. you see, his physical body has been surrendering to a horrible disease for several years. now, it seems, that the disease, ataxia, has completely taken over. my dad cannot walk. he has lost all control of his muscles. basically, the best explanation i can give is that the nerves that connect his body to his brain are and have been disconnecting. he cannot feed himself...his arms and hands won't listen to him. his eyes won't work together, so he has to close one if he needs to see something. he can't sit up straight, his head leans to one side, because his muscles are so weak. in december of 2005, dad's vocal chords froze, so he had to have an emergency tracheotomy. lately, we are barely understanding what he has to say, partly from the trach, mostly because of the lack of control of his tongue and facial muscles.

i tell you this, not because i want you to feel sorry for him...
i don't think he wants you to,
but because something he said in the condition
he is in has echoed in my heart almost daily.
he hasn't said it once, but has said it a few times.

i remember the first time he said it. i walked into the door of his and my stepmom's home, and asked him how he was. (pretty stupid thing to ask a man going through what he was going through!) anyway, he responded with "there are people that are worse off than I am."

even though this disease has held his body captive, his heart is with Jesus Christ.
his mind in intact. i praise God for that.
he still gets discouraged,
but he's excited to be with the Father for eternity..
..i think we all are, it's just the dying part that gets in the way.

i think i could pull several life lessons from my dad's life...but i'll save those for a later post. whenever i mention my dad, just remember what i told you about him in this post, because the things i'll write will make more sense and a bigger statement.

when i feel overwhelmed about trivial things, or i feel discouraged about things that will not matter in a few years, i hear my dad say, "there are people that are worse off"....it's almost like he's telling me, shape up, dana...look up...things aren't so bad...life is good...God is good.