winter 1980

keeping to the snow theme, here's a look back ...

this particular snowy day happened in 1980 ... leo was still healthy and strong ... it didn't phase him if we got 3 feet of snow, he had a shovel and could dig us out of any storm ...

my dad was spending a few days with us after a week in detox ... he was just starting to regain his strength ... in the pic, he was actually using the shovel as a cane ... his legs were still on the wobbly side ...

i remember being so thankful for the snow ... it gave us a good excuse to keep dad with us for a few more days ... we lived in the country and just told him we didn't want to go on the highway until it cleared up ... i think the extra rest did him good ...

when you look at the picture, my dad looks so small and frail beside leo ... it's hard to believe that i used to be afraid of him ... now i just think "my little dad" ...

bittersweet memories ...

i look at the picture and still remember the sadness, sure - but i also remember the joy ... a time spent with my 2 special men ... cooking for them ... playing board games ... laughing at the dogs as they played in the snow ... and hope ... always the hope that dad would be able to leave the drinking behind ... but even more important than being sober ... we prayed for his salvation - that he would place his faith in the God who could give him a future ...

though my dad has now left his earthly home ... the story cannot be concluded until i walk through heaven's portals and scan the eyes of the saved ones ... to see if Dad did accept Christ's free gift of salvation ...

until that day ... i still keep my hope alive ...

~~~~~~~~~~~

1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.
2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.
6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.
7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?
11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.
12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.
18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.

John 3: 1-7; 9-18 (New Living Translation)