Thursday, May 24, 2007

The Dad




Romans 8:28
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

From a 12 year olds perspective he was tall; surely he could touch the clouds. He had a kind face, smiling eyes, a gentle voice and he was in love with my Momma and wanted to marry her.

One evening Melinda and I dogged Momma as she got ready for her usual date. “Do you love him we asked?” “Well yes,” was her reply a little impatiently. We continued, “Have you kissed him?” Melinda and I sat on the bed waiting anxiously for the answer. “Well, what do you think? I’m going to marry him.” Melinda and I looked at each other and grinned, Momma gave us the ‘mom’ look.

“A new Dad, would he like me?” That one question seemed to continue to spin in my head. It seemed to dominate all the other questions that I wanted answered.

“A new Dad,” it almost caused my heart to stop. I wanted a new Dad so badly. Not really one that would take my Daddy’s place, but one that would fill the huge void that had been left in my life since my Daddy died.

Along with this wonderful new Dad came 3 new sisters and 1 new brother. It was like winning the bonus round, the all expense paid vacation and the gold ring all rolled into one. What more could a little girl want?



December 11, 1972 we all became a family and I got my new Daddy. He was gentle, kind, full of wisdom and had enough love to spread between 7 children ages 4-14.


This December we will celebrate 35 years together as a family. We have had our ups and downs as a family, but mostly ups. To get two great Dads in one lifetime can only be a blessing from God! To get extra brothers and sisters is the cherry on top!


My Dad Lawrence is wonderful. He always has a listening ear, gentle words full of wisdom and love that's unconditional. He filled the void in my life. My Dad had big shoes to fill; he step right into them and walked with grace and poise.


James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful blessing!! Very cool. Are y'all planning a big celebration in December?

(New look for the blog, huh? Are you going to be as bad as I am about changing the format?)

Monalea said...

Lisa,

Until I got cancer, I moved the funiture around in the house every 4 to 6 weeks. Now I just remove the dust to make room for the new dust. Maybe I was just spring cleaning.

Monalea

TREY MORGAN said...

Loved the story. Love the family. Love the dad.

He's awesome.

The Preacher's Household: said...

Having a nontraditional family is great. Yes there is confusion and maybe a little bit of a down occasionally but all in all the blessing are better than anything I could imagine a traditional family having.

And, Monalea please don't take up Lisa's habit of rearranging every month.

James

Anonymous said...

I love this story of your life!

I'm happy for you that you received such a wonderful blessing of another caring dad.

Like the new blog look.

The Preacher's Household: said...

Someone definately worth celebrating!
I like the picture of the happy kid on the Dad's shoulders. I have seen that look several times and cherish it in my heart. I am sure your Mom did as well when you guys were accepting of her new love.
Kathy

Neva said...

I am sure your mother was so relieved that you felt blessed by your new dad. I am glad our heavenly Father knows how important dads are to us.

Peace
Neva

Paula Harrington said...

I loved it!

Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Monalea, you sound like my mother and me. She was always moving furniture around in our house, and I love to do the same (though my husband doesn't tolerate it as well as my Dad did. (o;). I do the same thing with my blog, change every so often when I get bored with the same look.