THE DAY DADDY CAME HOME
Some time ago, a mother was tucking her little girl into bed when the young daughter asked, "Mother, can you tell me the greatest day of your life?"
The mother thought for just a second and then said, "Honey, I can tell you the greatest day in my life. As you know, my father was a man who fought in the Civil War. I remember it as though it was just yesterday. My mother and I were sitting on the porch one warm day. My dad had fought in the war, and several months earlier we had gotten word that he had been killed in battle. I was playing with my kitten as my mother and I were sitting in the swing. Ever since Mother lost Father, she had missed him very much. But that day, we saw someone coming down the long, dusty road that ran in front of our small house. My mother said, ’Oh, there’s a man coming down the road.’ A moment later she said to me, ’Sweetheart, I declare that man kind of favors your father.’ After another moment, she said, ’Darling, I really do think that is your father.’
"At that, she burst from the porch, across the front yard, through the picket fence gate, and down the road toward the open arms of my father. I was right behind my mother and jumped for my father’s arm, as I often did as a little girl and he would swing me. However, all I found was an empty coat sleeve. I saw the scars of battle on my daddy’s face, and I saw that his body was bruised from the war. I knew that he was missing an arm because of the warfare."
My mother said to me, "But little girl, the greatest day in my life was when my Daddy came back home."
(From a sermon by Jason Jones, "Redbuds, Baseball, and Turkeys Gobbling" 1/29/2009)