Last September, we made a trip home to the USA. Our plans were to stay nearly 4 months, through the holidays. During that time, my dad was having some stomach issues. That was nothing new, as he's had various stomach ailments most of his life. Just before Christmas, however, he worsened. We finally got him to agree to see a doctor, which happened the day we landed back in England. Within a few days, we found out that he had aggressive cancer, and it had gone into his liver. My parents (and us) are firm believers in healing, so when we understood that treatments would not help him, we decided to go back to the US and help my parents fight through prayer. We stayed in England 2 1/2 weeks before going home to the US. Three weeks later, my dad went to be with Jesus. This has been the hardest thing I've ever been through, and I miss him so much. The loss and the hurt feel like they'll never go, but I want to say this. My dad lived 71 years, mostly in good health until the very end, and he lived for the Lord. He didn't really have any pain with his illness, and we are grateful for that. We know we will see him again someday, though the wait seems hard. This life is so short in comparison to eternity, and that gives me comfort. We don't understand why my dad had to go. After all, we prayed, quoted Scripture, worshiped and thanked God for His goodness... We fought the cancer with faith, yet he was not healed on this earth. We ask why, and we may never know, but I do know this: God is still good. He's still faithful, and He loves us. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and He knows what we're going through. We were never promised an easy life, but He promised to be with us. We still believe in healing. We know people who have been healed physically here on earth. We still have much to be thankful for. My grandpa, my dad's dad, died of cancer when he was 61. I'm thankful my dad made it to 71. In all our sadness, God has shown Himself faithful. We will bounce back, as hard as it is.
Just one more note about my dad. He was a teacher. He taught high school science and math, college-level science, and he taught my sister and me much about science and about God. He retired from high school teaching in 2009, but he continued to teach college classes a few times a week until December. He loved science (particularly geology), he loved to teach, and he truly cared about his students and seeing them succeed. Last school year, he taught my son 7th grade earth science via the internet. Last September, we began our school year here in the US, and my dad taught my son's 8th grade biology until the second week of December. That's something my son will always remember. I just wish he could have taught the girls. When he passed away, I was overwhelmed by the huge number of comments we got on facebook from former students, both high school and college. He touched so many students' lives, and most of them said he was their favorite teacher, and they shared so many memories. It was my dad who gave me my love for learning and for teaching. What I do in our homeschool has a lot to do with his influence. I'm so proud of who he was, and I'll always value what he taught me, both academically and spiritually.
We will be returning to England in another month, and then maybe I will blog again. Those of you who pray, we'd appreciate prayers for our family. The kids are doing fine. They really miss their grandpa--he was a wonderful grandpa, and they have lots of great memories of him. I think getting back to England--to their normal routine, their church, and their friends--will help.
So, until my next post, this is where we're at. Thank you for reading.
