When GOD Restores Your Dad Back to You

A Tribute to My Dad, Calvin M. Thomas
by py thomas  © June 16, 2013

 

About 6 months before my Dad died, we were talking and he was lamenting that he felt like a failure when it came to being a Dad because of his not staying to raise us and subsequently becoming divorced from our Mom many years ago.   He said, “I haven’t done anything for you kids that have amounted to much.”  However, I corrected him and began to tell him of all the good things I remembered that he did that me and my brothers hung onto, especially our strong work ethic, plus his continual financial support even after he and our Mom divorced. 

To his surprise, I told him how he had a tremendous and profound impact on my life.  That if it had not been for his example of making the profession of faith and entering into the covenant of salvation in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), I may have not made the change in my life.  I shared with him  how at  5 years old, when I saw him make a public profession of faith and got baptized that it made such an impression on me, that I thought if the LORD could save my Dad (who as  a little girl I used to be afraid of my Dad), then I wanted to know that GOD, and Yeshua (Jesus) had to be real.  So the following week or so, I gave my life to the LORD.   What greater witness can a Dad give to his children by leading by example and entering into the covenant of salvation!   My Dad laid the groundwork of faith in me (along with my Mom), and it is because of his witness of Yeshua, that I entered into the covenant of salvation; and later in life at 25, I began to surrender and truly submit all of my life to the LORD; and by GOD’s grace, have continued on that path.

 The other day I was in Costco and there was a vendor there selling emergency solar-powered radios and various equipment.  As I walked down the aisle away from where the vendor was, a song began to play, by Dusty Springfield, “The Look of Love.”  It brought a tremendous wave of emotion over me so much that I began to literally shake.  Why?  Because just as certain smells and images trigger memories from long ago, this song did so to me.  It brought back memories of happier times when my parents were married, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons when my Dad would be relaxed working on his photography, painting or one of his many hobbies and would be playing jazz, Cannonball Adderley and Dusty Springfield, especially “The Look of Love.”  The powerful emotion that hit me unexpectedly by this triggered emotion was almost too much for me to bear – but it was a good memory, and one that I’m thankful that the LORD allowed me to retain. 

So on this Father’s Day, I celebrate my Dad who I love and miss dearly; and thank GOD for seeing fit for allowing Calvin Maurice Thomas to be our Dad.  He was a man of integrity; and in his later years became a man surrendered to Yeshua in all areas of his life  – and I had the privilege of witnessing that transformation and his transition into eternity.

I will always remember my Dad – he was truly a natural born leader and accomplished many things in his life – with one of the biggest being to finally forgive his Dad after holding a grudge against him for 70+ years, asking GOD for forgiveness for his unforgiveness.  My Dad was the most influential man in my life, second to Yeshua (Jesus).