July 18th is an awkward day for me to say the least. It is my birthday, but it also happens to be the day that my dad passed away. I hesitated to write about it, but my wife said that maybe someone would be encouraged by it. I am hoping that is the case because despite being one of the hardest moments of my life it is also a reminder of one of the kindest things the LORD has ever done for me. I know that sounds weird right now, but I'll explain.

My dad had a major stroke in the summer of 2010. My wife and I were on our way to Jr. High/High School summer camp in California where I was supposed to speak on the problem of evil. We weren't that far outside of Phoenix when I got the call from my mom. We turned right around and met her at the hospital. He was flown from there by helicopter to another hospital where he received an emergency surgery that saved his life for about another 40 days. That forty days was very difficult for a lot of reasons, but particularly because I wasn't sure that he was saved. My dad claimed Christ and he was an awesome man, but he had sort of walked away from the church a number of years before. I wanted to believe that he was right with God, but I wasn't sure. I had asked him about it about a year before when he was in the hospital for another reason and he said someone had shared Jesus with him when he was at ASU and that he accepted Christ then. But for some reason I was still unsettled. I know that sounds bad. I believe that salvation is by grace through faith, but I just wanted to be assured.

Like I said, he spent the next 40 days or so in the hospital and never really recovered from the stroke to be able to speak. I got the call from my mom on the night of July 18th that he was about to pass. By the time I got there he was gone. It was my first real experience with death and the emotion and pain was overwhelming. Added to that was the nagging feeling of wondering, "where is my dad?" I woke up on the morning of July 19th and opened my bible. I read Psalms first every morning and the next one up was Psalm 116. I got to verse 15 and the kindness, compassion, and grace of the King was poured out to me like never before. It reads "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." As clear as if it was audible the LORD said to me "Don't worry Travis, your dad is with Me." Every time I get to that passage now I see a note that says "7/19/10 God assured me that dad is with him."

Our God is compassionate, kind, and utterly gracious. In a time of immense pain, I experienced His grace and heard His voice like never before. The verse reminds me that God's grace in Christ is bigger than our sin. My dad walked away from being with the church for a time, but He never walked away from Jesus because he couldn't.

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."

Travis