A Tribute to My Dad

This is a picture of my dad and our oldest son, Nathan. (Taken 1965) Our son. André, probably won’t have any memory of my dad. He was just a little older than three when my dad passed. And our daughter, Shana, was born a year after my dad passed in 1973. Nathan was eight.

“Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.” (Deu 5:16 – The 5th Commandment.)

Journal,

Just this morning I was thinking about my dad and wishing that I had more pictures of him. It had been on my heart of late to write a tribute on him. I’ve probably written much more about my mom, and yet my dad had a powerful influence on my life.

Anyway, it is amazing how the Lord can so quickly answer the desires of one’s heart. About an hour ago, my first cousin’s wife, Rose, posted some of her husband Julian’s pictures on our family site. (Julian went to be with the Lord, June 10, 2009.)

I could hardly believe my eyes. Rose did not know who some of the people were, but I recognized most of them right away.

In love more today than ever. Love is not just a feeling, its a life commitment.

Including in the pictures was one of Betty and me. It was taken by Julian not long after we married. He had come to visit us where we lived in Grand Junction, Colorado. Julian was in the Air Force. I was on the police department.

That picture of Betty and me was taken nearly fifty years ago. Rose said, “Julian wrote on back of picture, ‘Buddy and Betty in love’.”

There was picture of my sister, Bertie, and a few others.

Then I saw the picture! It was a picture of my dad. Wow. Once again I thank the Lord for His goodness to me. And I thank Rose for sharing those pictures. 

(Well, that’s all for this evening. I’ll pick things back up tomorrow.)

OK, its tomorrow. 

Now, about my dad. It’s really hard to find a beginning place. Let me talk a bit about his background.

My Dad Was From Pioneer Stock

Perhaps I should say up front that my dad and mom married twice. Neither time worked out for them. This left a large part of my early childhood years with my mom. But from 1949 to 1959, my dad had a great part of helping to shape my life. (And even in the years afterwards.)

What’s this about pioneer stock. My dad’s family was what was often called, ‘dirt farmers.’ This meant that they helped to carve this nation out of the ground. They conquered the land with the sweat of their brow.

My dad’s great-great grandfather was a revolutionary soldier. He and his Indian wife were some of the first to settle in the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase was in 1803, and Billy Martin and other revolutionary solders quickly moved into the new territory to try to build a future for themselves and their descendants.

The pioneer spirit passed own down the line from Billy Martin to just about every one of his descendants. My grandfather homesteaded land. My dad continued the tradition. I use to watch him plow the field with a horse.

I well remember how the Martin family would pull together in building a home for one of the family members. And, yes, I remember studying by kerosene lamp, the cooking on a wood stove, and the old outhouse. I worked a crosscut saw with my dad many times for our winter firewood. (As I grew older I felt like I could outdo my dad on the crosscut saw. Never happened. He could work me into the ground.)

I am proud to say that I have same pioneer spirit in me as a minister of the gospel. As we travel around the country, I often look at buildings and think to myself, ‘That would be a good place to start a church.’

But it isn’t just me. I see that same spirit in both my sons and in my daughter. It manifests in different ways.

Nathan spent several years in Mexico, raising up indigenous churches. Only someone with a pioneer spirit would attempt such a deed.

My son, André, is a woodsman, a hunter, a fisherman, and a craftsman par excellence. Both these boys and my daughter, Shana, share the traits of pioneer leadership. I don’t think either of them are afraid of a challenge.

Now for a bit about…

The Issue of God

I’ve shared just a very, very brief synopsis of a man who I love deeply. But there is one other thing I’d like to bring out.

My dad had been raised in the Christian faith. But for him, church really wasn’t that very important. Yet as the years traveled by, he and my step-mom, began attending some of my evangelistic revivals.

The Lord was turning dad’s heart towards Him. Actually I baptized my dad just thirty days before he went to be with the Lord.

But it wasn’t just my dad. Many years ago I began a prayer list of my family. Every morning I would lay the list on my open Bible, and would ask the Lord to please save my family.

One by one by one I saw them come to the Lord. Many of them I baptized, including my mom and dad, my three sisters, nephews and nieces, cousins, uncles and aunts, and many others.

Aunt Vallie Paul. The last of my dad’s siblings.

Not so long ago I baptized the last of my dad’s siblings. Of the six siblings, Aunt Vallie is the only one still on this side of heaven. All the others have gone on home.

But I’m always reminded of something the apostle Paul said to the jailer, when he was about to take his own life.

Listen –

“And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said,

“‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’

“They said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.'” (Act 16:29-31)

I have believed for my family all through these many years.

How about you? Are you standing in the gap for your loved ones?

I read in the Bible where the Lord will choose one from a family to serve as a priest-intercessor for his or her people.

Perhaps the Lord has chosen you to serve as a priest-intercessor for your people.

Think about it.

In the meantime you may want to listen to this old country song about mama and daddy. It is called, ‘Mom and Dad’s Waltz’, sung by Merle Haggard.

In Christ always,

Buddy

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