My Father-in-Law

I call my mother-in-law my mother-in-love because she rocks. My father-in-law rocks too, but it's a bit awkward to call him my father-in-love. So, I won't. After 18 years of knowing the dear fellow, we've had our share of awkward moments...the time I was following him down the hallway when he stopped suddenly, and I rammed him from behind, my cheek coming to rest on his shoulder in an odd embrace...that whole premarital counseling got weird, especially Session #7 (Physical Intimacy)...the time he and the mother-in-love came to visit me in the postpartum wing and the nurse came in and asked rather loudly if I had had any gas or a BM yet...



He is a pastor, our pastor in fact. After close to 40 years in the ministry (most of those at the same church), he is a walking Bible Answer Man, even on the beach with a baby in his arms. (For some reason, all of my pictures of him seem to be shirtless and on a beach. He does wear a shirt when he's in the pulpit.) But he's also very unassuming and humble. You have to think of the questions before you can watch his gift of wisdom in action. Other gifts he has: the gift of hoarding paperwork -you want to know what they spent in gas in 1979? Yes, sirree, he has it...and I'll be shredding it all in another thirty years; the gift of TiVO meets ESPN - where one can watch an entire Basketball game in thirty minutes or less; the gift of naps - wherein we all roll our eyes as Father-in-Law heads upstairs in the midst of family emergencies, garage sales, and any other mid-day activity - us parents of young ones are just jealous.

The other day we were at their house hanging out, pre-naptime. And as always, the guy amazes me with his gift for teaching God's Word paired with his gentle, simple way of explaining it to folks like me. Every time he gets going on a topic or a passage of the Bible, I want to scramble over people to get a notebook and a good pen. Often, I think to myself, what will I do when I can't call the father-in-law for help understanding God's wonderful, but sometimes confusing, love letter to us? Then, I found this - our church website. In particular, the link to all of the father-in-law's notes! That's like 35 years worth of smarts down in one place. I can't wait to steal all of his ideas and claim them as my own. And now, there's no more stress that he's going to kick the bucket and leave us high and dry.

The legacy abounds, dear Father-in-Law. Thank you for all of the wisdom you have put down to paper. I promise not to tease you anymore about your age or your naps. As long as I can infringe on your copyrights.

And happy digging to the rest of you. It's a gold mine kind of resource.

Resting in Him,
Karen