It seems of late that I have not had the best of news to write what with losing my faithful companion Cooper The Dog.
And this week is no exception to that kind of news. With your permission, though, I will take this time to write something about my Dad who is soon going onto his heavenly reward.
He led quite a storied life beginning with fairly humble beginnings in Dodge City, Kan., where as a young boy he felt called of God to the ministry. Even then he would go to the famous bars along Front Street and witness to the destitute and drunken men there hoping to lead them to a loving redeemer in Jesus.
At a young 17 years old he went off to Bible school in Indiana and after graduation began his ministry spanning 70 years. He preached his last sermon behind a pulpit at 93 years old. He had a fire inside him that could not be extinguished. His life was not always easy as he worked full-time during the day and then also pastored a growing church, so he was called upon to carry a lot of burdens.
Every night of the week found him in a different town holding home meetings and we traveled all the time during my childhood that I can recall to meetings across Kansas and beyond. He was a good father and my two sisters and I both learned to love people first and it has carried through to now.
Fast Freddy inherited the love of the mountains from his parents, and we spent a lot of time there on vacations fly-fishing and seeing the beautiful sights. After he retired, he was able to have a summer home in South Fork, Colorado and so enjoyed that time especially.
Retirement to him was not like it is for most people as he continued to preach at every given opportunity and wrote some great papers on Christian subjects. Of course, having a church for so many decades, there were funny things happening all the time and we still get to laugh about those events every time we get together.
There were scary times as well and I recall one night during a driving rain the front door of the church swung open. This was in a little church and had no foyer so the rain and lightning were crashing inside, too. A man walked in, somewhat unsteadily, and went to the front facing my Dad and said, “I am going to kill you.” All of us kids who were sitting on the back row ran out into the rain.
Needless to say, the man didn’t succeed and in fact gave his life to Christ and became a Christian. I was impressed at how cool my Dad was in the face of harm, but he told me he had given up his life long ago to Jesus and so no one could really harm him. What a life lesson for us all.
I have been going through the things he wants me to have like his bamboo flyrods, the pistol I bought him when I tagged him Fast Freddy, and other things and of course the memories flood back to me like a slow-motion picture. We fished and hunted and shared the best of times and I owe him so much for all he taught me.
As most of you know, I am building a house in Texas on the ranch and all the things I am doing from wiring to plumbing to HVAC etc., I owe to him teaching me down through the years. We never relied on anyone to do these jobs, so we became quite a team working on the church and other projects. I didn’t like it at the time as a young boy, but it sure has come in handy all of my life.
So, join me as I pause today with the regular drivel that I write and honor a great man who gave all he had to God first, then to others and finally himself always last. He may not be the greatest man that ever lived, but he gave unselfishly more than anyone else I ever knew.
Kevin Kirkpatrick spends his days fishing, hunting, ATVing or hiking. His email is Kevin@TroutRepublic.com. Additional news can b found at www.troutrepublic.com or on Twitter at TroutRepublic.
