Im not sure if it’s evident at all or not but I LOVE the New York Yankees. And when I say that I love the New York Yankees, I dont mean it as if I was a soccer mom who loved going to her kids soccer games. No, when I say I LOVE the New York Yankees, I am really meaning: if my son was on the Yankees, and if an opportunity arose to make the team better at his expense, I would kick his little butt off the team faster than you can say “27 World Series And Counting”. (#SorryNotSorry) So again, I LOVE the New York Yankees and I got this love from my dad. When I was a kid, he and I would talk baseball and the Yanks for hours on end, watch it on end, and this was something that we really got close through. The Yankees were needless to say, a big freaking deal to the two of us . . . so with that being said, I have a confession to make. I “kind of” spread some of his ashes in New Yankee Stadium.
After my dad passed away, we really had no idea where to spread his ashes. He had made it known that there was one spot in particular where he wanted us to spread his ashes but past that, we weren’t really sure where to spread the rest of him. So one day at work, me and my friend Jim were talking about this and Jim was one of those guys who didn’t really care about much. The word “consequences” meant little to him so he was the kind of guy who wasn’t really phased by anything ever. So again, we are talking about this, and we eventually come up with the question, “What would it look like if we spread some of Dad’s ashes in New Yankee Stadium?” and as we begin to talk about this we really start getting actual ideas to make this happen. So I go home after my shift and then bring the question up to my mom, “What would it look like if we spread some of Dad’s ashes in New Yankee Stadium?” Turns out she loved it! We ended up buying Yankee tickets for May 19th, 2013 (my father’s birthday) a couple months later and in Section 103 of New Yankee Stadium, right by the bullpen, we spread some of my Dad’s ashes.
Now it’s cool to say that my father is now one of the ghosts of Yankee Stadium, but I think it’s important to ask why I would do such a thing? If me and my mom would have been caught, there would have been a good chance that we might have gotten arrested. I mean come on, we spread my father’s ashes at Freaking New Yankee Stadium. Only God knows what legal trouble we could have been in. But it all boils down to love. Dude, I loved my dad. He was Dad and I would do anything for him because I loved him. He was the man and it was a fitting way to send him off for all he had done for others. He loved others in a way that really was extra ordinary as well as extraordinary.
Before he was diagnosed with cancer, the man was the most godly individual I ever knew. I mean his life was to help others. He knew that life was not meant to be lived for yourself. But when he was diagnosed with cancer, things really changed, and in such an amazing way. I think it’s easy to say that he reached more people through his sickness than he did when he was healthy. His trust in God was such a testimony to 1 Timothy 1:15-17.
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. BUT I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the worst, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. AMEN.”
My father had a heck of a past before God and boy did he live. But when he found God, especially in his later years, he knew who he was and who he should live for, and himself was not one of those people. He knew that his story, his life, and his everything was to bring people closer to God. It was another way of Christ showing his love to others, because my dad knew that if God could love him, God could love anyone, and he trusted God with this truth.
When he was diagnosed with cancer, you think the guy would take a rest, maybe even feel a little wronged by God about becoming sick but he didnt. The guy would always talk to others as if it was an honor to be sick. He was always hurting, throwing up, or bed ridden because he was in so much pain, but his spirits were never down. The dude was insane, and I would ask what his deal was! But he would always tell me that he was a servant of the Most High, referencing Luke 1:38 when Mary was told she was going to be the mother of Christ. He knew that whatever God had for him, he knew that it was for his benefit in the long haul, AS WELL as the short haul.
“If I can’t trust God with the big things, then I have no right or reason to trust him through the little things.”
-My Father
Whenever we went out, whether it was church or his freaking chemo appointments, he would always grab some random person and talk to them about how happy he was to be a servant of the Most High and a FAVORED (he always put emphasis on the word “favored”) son of God, and each time, we thought he was basically crazy. Not that we didn’t believe it, but because whenever he would talk to these people, he was sharing with gusto and joy. My father was crazy. But he was aware that his life, whether it be in his sickness or health, was to be lived for God and that meant living for others by encouraging them, loving on them, and being there for them, and when he passed away, his memorial was a reflection of his life.
So the reason why I am telling you all this is not to tell you about who my father was just to tell you who he was. It’s not to tell you how great he was, how holy he was, or to brag about him in any way. Frankly that is the last thing I would want to do through this and it’s the last thing that he would want me to do. The reason why I am telling you all this is because I want to share with you how we all should be living. Not like how my father lived, but how Jesus lived, and that is through love. Unconditional love for anyone you come across whether you know them intimately or not, because again, our lives are not for ourselves. They are for others.
So hopefully all this makes sense. Im a bit of a hot mess because today is the three year anniversary of my father’s going to Heaven, and dude, I miss him. I miss him so much. I crave talking to him but know I can’t so this blog is stirring up all the feels right now. But his life is a blueprint to me for what a life centered on Jesus’ love for us and others looks like. So I challenge you, how are you living for others? How is your life a testimony of 1 Timothy 1:15-17? And for others who want to live like this, dude, you can. Jesus loves you so much and loves you more than any old dude in a chemo ward could possibly relay to you. You were bought with Christ’s blood. Why? Because God loves you, because He loves, because He loves you, because He loves you, because He loves you, because He loves you. You are loved FAVORED sons and daughters. You are loved. I pray and hope that this blog brings you encouragement, joy, and peace as to who you are in God’s eyes. Know that I love yall so much and I look forward to writing you again soon.
Philippians 3:7-11
For it is my sincere desire, and my determined purpose, that I may progressively know Him, to become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing, and understanding the wonders of His person more strongly, and more clearly. That I may in that same way come to know the power that is continually out-flowing from Him, which resurrected Him, and which flows through and exerts His power on all believers, so that I may share in His sufferings, so as to be continually transformed in spirit into His likeness, even unto His Death.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
