Last night my sister Dorcas and I remembered that today, January 11th, would have been my dad's birthday were he alive today. He would have been 90 today.
I couldn't help noticing the hymn Dorcas's son Peter was picking out so beautifully on his guitar, "Face to Face." It was one of my dad's favorite hymns.
As most of us gathered in the livingroom to enjoy Peter and Hannah playing guitars, we started singing together. Hannah was practicing "He Shall Hold Me Fast," which she sang this morning in church service. We sang "Blessed Assurance," "As the Deer Panteth for the Water," and "Rock of Ages," another of my dad's favorites.
He would have been glad to see us gathered around the supper table after dinner, with Peter reading the devotional, us discussing it, and us all praying. (Dorcas took this picture unknown to me!) We have tried to be faithful to carry on the godly tradition of family worship daily.
Last night Jonathan was trying to put a message together for our church today, since he and Danny are taking turns helping with sharing God's Word every other Sunday at church as our pastor continues to fail. I loved the cozy scene of the Matthew Henry's One-Volume Commentary lying open on the table near the amaryllis that I thought was going to take at least three more days to open.
Instead, what would meet my wondering eyes this morning but this first bloom--already open!
Just in time for my dad's birthday!
I called Mom before leaving for church to tell her that my amaryllis bloomed to help us celebrate Dad's birthday! She had forgotten it was his birthday as she has been sick this week, wasn't up to going to church, and wasn't paying attention to dates on a calendar under these circumstances!
I told her about us singing some of Dad's favorite songs last night and how I was going to take the blooming amaryllis to church, which I did. Our pastor and his wife were tickled to have this beautiful bloom up front today.
By afternoon, the second bloom was also opening. I wanted to take a picture of it in the sunlight.
And there I am, in front of a cedar near our church, ready to carry my precious flower back home from church, the one God coaxed to bloom on what would have been my dad's 90th birthday.
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