The Lord certainly orchestrated this month for me to be in
Phuket, Thailand. I am going to
take you all back five years ago in August 2006. That month I went to Phuket,
Thailand to visit my dad Tony Farino. My Dad worked for Marriot here in Thailand
and he flew my sister, two of our friends, and myself to come visit for a
couple of weeks.
August 2006 Phuket, Thailand
I have to let you all into my heart a little bit I hope you
do not mind. Tony was a man that put the Lord first in his life, and he was
devoted into raising his children to do the same. At a very young age my father
would teach me to spend time with the Lord early in the morning (even though I
rarely ever woke up). He also had
family Bible studies every now and then to teach us all about what the Lord was
teaching him. My Dad had a burden
to see people get saved. There were so many times we would be eating out at a
restaurant and he would tell the waitress or waiter about Jesus. We would all
be so embarrassed, but he had no fear and wanted to see the Lord’s Kingdom
advance.
My Father struggled though later in his life. He found himself getting involved with
things that he did before he accepted Jesus into his life. This struggle was an
addiction to drugs. I will not go into detail about what drugs, but through
this addiction my Dad lost everything. He lost his family, friends, and even
several jobs. His addiction stole him away from us and it was very hard growing
up without my Father around. The Lord taught me so much though as I grew up
fatherless. The main thing he
taught me was that He is Father to the fatherless.
A Father to
the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. Psalm 68:5
There are so many times in my life where the Lord has
provided and taken care of me not only as a Heavenly Father, but also as an
earthly one. What I have learned even more so this year is that God longs for
us to see Him as our Father, our Daddy. God does not want us to view Him as a
distant God who is way in Heaven and only hears us if we pray loud enough. He
wants us to cry out to Him, Dadda. That is how intimate our God in Heaven is
that He longs for us to cry out to Him, and that He is as near to us as anyone
on this earth could be. Our lips and our tongues have been so trained by this
world we live in to say so many things, but He wants us to cry out to Him and
really believe that He hears us and longs to listen. Learning about so many
religions around the world I have yet to find one that speaks of a god that longs
to be intimate with His creation and to know them more than they know
themselves. Our Dad in Heaven loves us that much that He just wants us to talk
to Him, to spend time with Him. He
is jealous for His creation….
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God. Exodus 34:14
A year later after my visit to Thailand my dad Tony had a
heart attack. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was in class and I had all these
messages on my phone saying to come home as soon as possible. I did not know what
to expect all I could think of as I drove home was that my dog had died. I was
so upset thinking that he had died I loved my dog so much. I pulled into the
driveway and I made sure to go through the back to see if my dog was still
there and he was! I walk into the room and see my whole family in tears and my
brother looks into my eyes with his hands on my shoulder and says, “Dad had a
heart attack.” I heard him say that and expected him to say he is in the
hospital in bad condition, but he continued by saying “he died.” In that moment
I pulled my brother close and I cried harder than I have ever cried in my life.
It was uncontrollable…
The Lord gave me so much peace though throughout my Fathers’
death. Those two weeks I got to
spend with my dad in Thailand showed me that he was not addicted to drugs
anymore. I believe at the end of his life God in His mercy took my dad home
before he could fall back into his addiction. My dad a week before he died
emailed the whole family about all the things that God was doing in his life
and I know that email was the Lord’s way of saying “It is time I am taking my
son home now.”
The Lord brought me back to Phuket, Thailand which was
originally not even on our route.
I have never seen my dad’s grave and he died four years ago. Of all
places in Thailand that we could of done ministry in we were placed in the last
place I got to see my dad, spend time with him, and where he was buried. My dad’s main desire in life is that
his children would serve the Lord on the mission field someday. I know he is in
Heaven now so excited to see me in his hometown. The Lord is so amazing in his ways……..
I do not know what your situation is with your parents,
whether it is good or bad, it does not matter. God in Heaven wants to know you
as His son and daughter, and He wants you to know Him as your Dad. He wants you
to speak to Him….. Dadda, Daddy.. Don’t be afraid to cry it out.. It’s the
language of Heaven…
