Everything Is Amazing, Or, An Unlikely Hero

One week ago this morning (February 13th), my 73 year old father suffered a heart attack.  Today, he is back at home with new cardiac plumbing thanks to a quadruple bypass performed last Friday.  That is amazing.  Open heart surgery is a big deal, but does anybody remember when it was a REALLY. BIG. DEAL?  Again, amazing.  So today I'm thankful for modern medicine and I'm thankful for a cardiologist who is a fellow believer and I'm thankful my dad is home.

Last week I realized something.  I realized that my dad is one of my heroes, but that wasn't always the case.  Thinking back to when I was a teenager, he certainly wasn't my hero.  I was my hero back then.   Ahh, the ignorance and arrogance of youth. 

Not everybody has a good dad.  Nobody has a perfect dad.  I have a good dad who isn't perfect. When I pause long enough to take a steady look at my dad's life and the years that I've been a part of it, I see plenty of failure.  No, let's call it: humanness.  My dad has truly always done the best he could by me,  and now that I realize what kind of stresses a grown man deals with, I'm starting to get it.

Dad is as hard working a man as there ever was.  He's got more energy than me or my older brother. 

Dad's faith has grown deep over the years, and it's so obvious that even a self-interested baby-of-the-family like me can notice it.

Dad cries when he talks about the Lord.

Dad sends out text messages like this the day after heart surgery (the part in yellow):

These are just a few of the reasons my dad is one of my heroes.  Knowing my own heart like I do, I'm honestly not sure I'll ever match him, but if the Lord wills, I've got plenty of years left to try.