Time......... Today's Post is written by my wonderful husband, Dan

Front: Dad & Dan, Middle: Mark, Daniel, Dennis, Back: Tom, Josh

Time,

Odd thing , my brother gave me my father's old wrist watch. Not fancy nor expensive just the one he wore to work everyday before he passed away. It was battered and beat up a bit, some of the metal was worn not of much monetary value.

I have looked at it many times and pondered this jester. You see my father did not have a whole lot of time to be with us kids when we were young.

He worked hard and provided for us, room and board, clothes, food, extras for school.

Practically all my time with Dad is when he took me to work with him, he was a master craftsman. A reupholsterer and one of the best. He had done furniture for all the local celebrities in Indianapolis and I was privileged to go out with him to meet his clients.

I would watch him deal with many types of people from the poorest to the wealthiest in town and he always helped his neighbors. He was the one in the family to call on when you were in trouble and the whole family including his in laws did that, he always went he always helped.

I am the eldest so I got to be with him the most on the jobs he did, I spent many an hour in the shop preparing furniture for him to redo.

I got to stay up late to chat with him when he came home late, a few moments was all.

During my highschool years, my friends would come by saying they were there to see me, but they always ended up with my dad talking or wrestling with him.

Tough man a real man’s man.

When I got saved around the age of 22 I got burdened for my father’s salvation. I moved near him to be able to tell him about the love of Jesus for him.

He did not accept that right away and I started praying for my father to be saved. He was always a fun guy to be around but was not open to accepting that Saving Grace.

Later in life Dad developed heart disease, & had open heart surgery and Diabetes. He did well for quite a few years after his initial surgery but time wore on and the disease finally was taking its toll.

My father called me on my cell phone(which he never did) to tell me something and he sounded so excited about it. “What is it dad?” I said. “ I accepted Jesus as my Savior this last weekend and I got baptized” Praise the Lord! I thought. As he was giving me his testimony I could remember that it had been since 1980 till 2006 that I had spent many a time in prayer and many a time sweetly telling him about salvation and each time he said not today but that day had come!!

Now dad is gone went to be with Jesus. Sept of 2006 will be 2 years in a couple of weeks and the time has gone by so quickly. So much has changed I had heart surgery, my first granddaughter was born and my son and his precious wife went to Reno to help pastor a work there.

I am spending a lot more time reminiscing about loved ones these days wanting to teach everything that I know to my new granddaughter.

Hoping to be able to go visit my son knowing that what that watch is really reminding me of is that time is really so precious and we need to do that which God had planned us to do so that when it stops we can really say I am glad I did it that way. Instead of I wish I had more to correct that which I did not do.