Daddy, The Promise Keeper

This morning I am thinking about how my dad was a man of such honor and integrity.  He could be counted on to keep his word.  If he said he was going to do something, he did it.  When it was time to go to work, he went.  He was not one to call in sick, and definitely not if he wasn’t really sick.  As a part of the choir at church, he made it his business to get to rehearsals.  He didn’t take this service lightly, even though our church probably had no more than sixty members present on a good Sunday.  Daddy took his commitments seriously, regardless of what anyone else did, or thought, or felt.  One of my most treasured memories is of when my dad promised to take us to Disney World.  There were six children, and we were not a financially wealthy family…not by a long shot.  But, since Daddy said we were going, we knew it was a done deal.  It was not a matter of if, but when.  One night he told us that we would need to get up early the next day because we were going to take a trip.  He said it was a surprise.  We were all so thrilled that we put up no objection to an earlier-than-usual bedtime.  The next morning, we got up, ate breakfast, got dressed, and piled into the car.  We rode for quite some time, chatting excitedly about what we were going to see and do when we got there.  (We just knew we were on our way to Disney World!)  We were quite perplexed when the car came to a stop in front of a small shack where there was an old man sitting in the front yard.  Daddy got out of the car and approached the old man, grinning.  Then they embraced.  “Pile out,” my mom directed us.  Reluctantly, we did get out as my brother, Steve, made a wisecrack about the old man being Mickey Mouse.  It turns out the old man was actually one of my dad’s long, lost cousins.  And it turns out that Daddy had promised him, at some point, that he’d come for a visit.  So, we spent that day playing in and around the little shack in a place we later learned was called Okeechobee.   A few weeks later, Daddy really did take us to Disney World, as we knew he eventually would.  I am particularly blessed when reflecting on my dad’s diligence in keeping his promises because it keeps me mindful of how my God is faithful to keep His promises as well.  Sometimes it feels like my life is a series of stops at one “Okeechobee” after another along the way.  But my dad’s example keeps my heart encouraged to know that the very thing God has promised…my own “Disney World”…He will certainly do.