Traditions
Today marks a different kind of anniversary for me. Eleven years ago I received a phone call that would forever change my life.
December 14, 2001 my father suddenly died of a massive coronary. I will never forget that day. It was 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon. Greg was in Georgetown working and living in Cedar Park. I had gotten done talking to a friend on the phone and had just snapped the spaghetti noodles, dumping them into the pot of boiling water.
The phone rang and my life suddenly came crashing in around me. My dad was gone. In just two weeks my parents were to arrive to celebrate Christmas. There would be no Christmas in my heart, not for a long time.
There is so much more to this story that I won't share this time but I can say that the Lord drew me to Himself and healed my shattered heart. I still miss my dad and I hate that my kids didn't get to have their Papa for very long. Em wasn't even two when he passed. He was a WONDERFUL papa!
This post isn't about my sorrow rather the joy and blessing God brought out of a horrible tragedy. Christmas has become so much more for us since then. It's a time to focus on Him and family. A time to shake off the worries of this world, hand them over to the Father and let them go.
Several years ago I found some heart ornaments and had an idea. I bought one for Greg and I to share and one for each of our kids. When they marry, they will take their heart and carry on the tradition for their family. Every Christmas, we write out our prayer(s) for the year, fold them, place them inside, and hang the ornaments on the tree. Not to be opened and read until the next year.
It's both rewarding and hard to read them sometimes. Some of the loved ones we have prayed for, well God's choice of healing wasn't our choice but we have learned to trust Him in this. Some of the prayers have been amazing to read and see how He has answered, beyond our expectations and dreams.
I love this tradition. I can thank both my earthly father and my Heavenly Father for drawing us to start this. Thanks Daddy.
I love you Dad and miss you terribly even after all this time. But I can't thank you enough for loving me and leading me to my Father. One day, I'll get tons of those hugs from you again. That familiar warmth and soft comfort of being in your big arms. Until then, know that I love and miss you, but I wouldn't change how God changed me because of all this.
December 14, 2001 my father suddenly died of a massive coronary. I will never forget that day. It was 4:00 o'clock in the afternoon. Greg was in Georgetown working and living in Cedar Park. I had gotten done talking to a friend on the phone and had just snapped the spaghetti noodles, dumping them into the pot of boiling water.
The phone rang and my life suddenly came crashing in around me. My dad was gone. In just two weeks my parents were to arrive to celebrate Christmas. There would be no Christmas in my heart, not for a long time.
There is so much more to this story that I won't share this time but I can say that the Lord drew me to Himself and healed my shattered heart. I still miss my dad and I hate that my kids didn't get to have their Papa for very long. Em wasn't even two when he passed. He was a WONDERFUL papa!
This post isn't about my sorrow rather the joy and blessing God brought out of a horrible tragedy. Christmas has become so much more for us since then. It's a time to focus on Him and family. A time to shake off the worries of this world, hand them over to the Father and let them go.
Several years ago I found some heart ornaments and had an idea. I bought one for Greg and I to share and one for each of our kids. When they marry, they will take their heart and carry on the tradition for their family. Every Christmas, we write out our prayer(s) for the year, fold them, place them inside, and hang the ornaments on the tree. Not to be opened and read until the next year.
It's both rewarding and hard to read them sometimes. Some of the loved ones we have prayed for, well God's choice of healing wasn't our choice but we have learned to trust Him in this. Some of the prayers have been amazing to read and see how He has answered, beyond our expectations and dreams.
I love this tradition. I can thank both my earthly father and my Heavenly Father for drawing us to start this. Thanks Daddy.
I love you Dad and miss you terribly even after all this time. But I can't thank you enough for loving me and leading me to my Father. One day, I'll get tons of those hugs from you again. That familiar warmth and soft comfort of being in your big arms. Until then, know that I love and miss you, but I wouldn't change how God changed me because of all this.
Such a precious post!
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