Yesterday, I watched my dad retire from law after 31 years of practice. I am so blessed that I was able to attend that reception. I just sat there, listening to his peers, talk about him.. his character.. his work ethic.. his talents.. his grace.. his goodness. They raved about his excellence as an attorney, but the main theme was his excellence as a man. Now, my dad has had his struggles and is by no means perfect (like the rest of us). But he is all those things.. he is an incredibly layered, wonderfully, fearfully made man of God. After listening to these people talk of this man, this man got up and gave the glory to His Father. He boldly and charismatically told about his Lord. I wept. I have never been more proud of him in my life and more in love with my two Dads. What a picture of Christ's power to rescue and restore his precious child.. and what a reminder of how precious I am to Him as well.
It was interesting to hear that a lot of characteristics people love in my dad.. are shining points in each of his children. Am I talking about my earthly father or my heavenly father? well, both. There really isn't a distinction. All good comes from the Father. It was just a surreal moment of how the Lord works.. and weaves.. creates. Precious.
It also reminded me of how much I have struggled with living in this area. I didn't want to stay in the Dallas area.. I wanted an adventure! I wanted hills, mountains, streams and green.. lots of green. I wanted to raise Jake in place where people knew their neighbors' names better than the names on the inside of their designer shirts. There has always been such judgement on my end about life here. Now, I have come to terms with that in many ways. I had to embrace my life here awhile ago and rest in the fact that this is where God has me right now. And I stopped looking for the negative and just started focusing on all the goodness I get to enjoy here.. all that God has provided here in my little concrete designer jungle. My community... Bent Tree.. Jake is excelling in school and life.. my sweet friends.... my lifegroup... my mom lived and was buried here.. my Grandma T's wednesday night dinners... my Grandma B is almost 90 and she knows my boy.. and I get to witness and be a part of days like yesterday with my dad. This is the place my Lord rescued and redeemed me.. I'm just realizing that it's just geography. If you are where God calls you to be, even if it isn't your first choice, He provides.. His provisions overflow.
Today, I am grateful for: Girls night at the lake this weekend.. yay!
3 comments:
I adored this post Sarah. Thank you for sharing your heart and once again I leave your blog uplifted and ministered too! Have an amazing weekend at the lake with your girlies(and post pics)!!
this was great. thank you so much for sharing about Dad's retirement party. I was sad to miss it. I'm glad you're there to keep some coherence to the family (although I would love to visit you somewhere greener too!). I'm also glad you're content with your life in Texas. love you!
I'm with Becca & Leslie... well put!
Bummed I missed all that, but glad you were there. God's been really good, hasn't he? Even in those seasons of sorrow and suffering he's been working out his perfect plan in your life to bring you to a season where you can see the glory in you being in Dallas.
I'm still looking for a New England town for you to live in, but I'm glad you're "home" so I can have the best of both worlds.
love you!
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