Dear Dad,
I have learned a lot during the past 18 months. More than just subject matter, more than just massive amounts of information to hold in mental closets until needed, I learned to use the tools you gave me, learned to build that which lasts.
We used to hear a story in Sunday School as children about 2 men - a wise man and a foolish man. The wise man built his house on the rock, the foolish man built his house on the sand. The rain and storms came, and the house built on the rock endured, the house built on the sand was destroyed.
Rock endures.
Sand does not.
Interesting point - sand is the part of the rock that is removed in the storm, or to put it differently, it is the part of the rock that could not weather the storm.
Get enough of these miniscule pieces of rock, and we have a nice cushion of sand. A cushion made from the pieces of the rock that was unable to endure.
We need a solid foundation, something we can cling to, something we can depend upon. A rock that will outlast the storms that come our way.
When everything we held so true is taken away, and all that remains is the skeleton we started with, will it be enough? Will we have a base strong enough to maintain when the dust settles and the aftershock of questions start rolling in?
If we build on the sand, enjoying the soft cushion of the pleasures of this life, when the storms come, we lose. Sometimes not all at once, but we lose.
When we build the easy way, we build to fail. It never lasts.
It is hard to build on the rock.
It requires effort, more than we can imagine.
It takes everything we have, every bit of strength, every hope, every dream, and sometimes every breath.
It may take our lives.
But what is built will endure.
The storms are unpredictable, and it is frightening to hear the wind when it attempts to tear us from all we know to be true, but if we cling to the rock you built upon, we are safe.
Like any other structure, we have to maintain, repair and sometimes build again. As long as we hold to the original plan, we will not waiver.
It cost you everything.
It is costing me no less.
I promised you long ago, that I would stand with you and for you. I promised I would be there until the end.
I kept my promise.
I think it was less about me being there for you as it seemed to be more about learning to position myself.
Now I stand, like you, on the rock that endures.
It is good.
