HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO CLIFFORD VICTOR

Every person needs a loving father. That is why I have spent a lifetime telling people about our loving heavenly father. The Biblical example was given to us for a specific purpose. We are to use God's example as we becoming earthly fathers.

My Dad has been gone for 22 years; that's hard to believe because I can still see and feel his wonderful Christian leadership. He came from very humble beginnings, the first son and third child of 14 children. I really can't describe the family as "poor"; the best word would be "poooooooor".

There must have been something extra special about my grand father. He raised a tremendously godly and productive family, and he passed those characteristics along to my Dad.

My Dad could do anything, or he was willing to try to do anything. He married my Mother at the beginning of the Great Depression, and he had to do anything and everything just to make a living. He built a stone fence in northern Arkansas in the early 1930's after a man asked him if he could do the job. His answer was yes even though he had never done any stone work in his life. He must have done a good job because the wall is still standing.

I remember my Dad as a Deacon and Sunday School Teacher and Superintendent at First Baptist Church of Weatherford, Texas. He once taught a teenage boys class, and I often went with them on outings. He loved those boys. He had seven younger brothers of his own, and he knew how to deal with them.

He was also a leader in starting three new churches in Weatherford, Texas, and he helped to build literally dozens of churches all over the United States. I can't think of my Dad without seeing him with a hammer in his hand. The picture is one I gave to him as a gift at his retirement.

As a 70 year old man, I would really enjoy sitting today and talking with Dad. We had a great relationship before his death, but there are a lot of questions I'd like to ask him. That is just part of life. It is really over before many of us learn how to live it.

Anyway, Happy Father's Day Dad. Thank you for a life well lived and for a tremendous Christian influence.

Now, to all of my relatives who are fathers. Let me suggest that you look around and find a good Christian example. Then pass it on to your children. That's the way to have a really Happy Father's Day.