Father's Day - Daddy is gone but not the memories

Just taking a moment to reflect on the life of my Father, Rev. Eugene Boyd, Jr.

He was a second generation Baptist Preacher. Even to the end he kept that theme in his life which paid off tremendously when he was living in a senior deluxe apartment home; My Mother was now gone for three years. Daddy He finally joined her at age 78 where they are buried in an encrypted grave -- "They lived as God Willed" on their tombstone.

As a child I used to go with Daddy to the Barbershop and got acquainted with the Preachers gathering to talk and get their hair cut. When Grandpa was alive Daddy used to take me to his house, where it was a common place of Preachers discussing the bible and calling each other "Doctah." I thought they were all well educated.

We had our ups and downs as so do all parents with their kids. "A penny for your thoughts!" Daddy used to say to me since I had a tendency to keep closed mouth especially while riding in the car as I would gaze out of the window and daydream.

Daddy was a great driver...drove our family to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, then on to Philadelphia where my oldest brother got married, then on to Falls Church, Virginia and Washington, DC and yes we got out to look at the White House from the gate. I thought it was going to be bigger but I guess television makes everything look bigger. We traveled to New York too and my sister and I begged our Father to 'Please, Daddy, take us to Harlem!!!' He tried to find it (we were in downtown where The Merv Griffin Show was on Broadway) but we couldn't quite get out that far....Of course we wanted to see it because of the black movies we saw with New York being the place of drama....I wanted to see it too because I knew that it was where Langston Hughes and the creative renaissance stars hung out in their day. (See http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83)

Daddy had a church that he pastored, one that I grew up in. In time I left and moved to California to live with my sister's family but Daddy kept that theme of being up in the pulpit to preach, whether it was one or two or only he and my Mother. At my church now, we just read The Purpose Driven Life book by Rick Warren. I told my current Pastor (http://www.ndcv.org/) if my Father only knew about this book (it wasn't yet written) that I know his Ministry would have taken off. But as I look back on it, and I think we all didn't really understand why the church was the way it was....After reading this book I see that there was a Purpose for what Daddy did....He did what he only knew how to do...and it was drilled into him from his own childhood days when his Father was a Preacher. "Preach in season and out of season." That meant that even though he didn't understand why he didn't have the Joel Olsteen arena sized church in Texas, (see http://www.lakewood.cc/site/PageServer)I believe in his younger days he had the gift and potential, but what he planted in our lives was a will to make it, and to do it until.......So at the senior home he and his friends opened up the word of God and he bought them his favorite Jesus hat, and at his funeral, my dear sister, who also is now passed since January of this year, gathered white handkerchiefs with the Jesus hat on it and handed it out and everyone would wave the hankies in the air during parts of the service as she was standing in the pulpit, a Pastor herself, and proclaimed it was a going home celebration for Eugene Boyd, Jr.!

Purpose - Purpose - What is the purpose for your life? What are you living for? Who are you affecting in a positive way? Who has a relationship with Jesus Christ because you took their hand and led them to your place of worship? We all have a purpose in what we do. Only what we do for Christ will last eternally...all the rest of this stuff is fluff! Get enough of it....It won't last. But you will in Heaven or Hell. The Purpose of me Honoring my Daddy is to continue his theme of asking people to please try Jesus. Jesus Christ is the only way to live with Father God eternally. Jesus Christ said, "I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man comes to the Father except through me." Bold words, huh? He said it, so it is not my place to back him up....He can back up his words himself. Only believe. Happy Father's Day in Heaven, Daddy....I love you more. Princene