There are certain people who come into your life, whether by chance or by Devine appointment that make such an impact on you that you cannot help but to be thankful for them.  One such person is my (step) Dad, Russell Gribble.You see Russell Gribble was not my father by birth, but he did what only a few men would be willing to do……. step in and be a father to someone else’s children.

I guess that I was about 3 or 4 when I first met my future dad.  I had fallen down the steps in front of the house we were living in at the time.  It just so happened that my mom was on a date with Russell and they rushed home to take me to the hospital to be checked out.  I don’t remember much of that night, but what sticks out to me was what happened before we left the emergency room.  Russell stopped by the vending machine and picked out some kind of candy bar for me.  He handed it to me and all the pain was gone, and I had a new friend.  I didn’t realize how good of a friend until later on in life.

As we all know, He and Mom fell in love and were married in 1977.  I barely remember the ceremony, but what I remember is our whole crew moving to Holman Ave.  Mom and Russ, the Hughes crew and some of the Gribbles mixed in…… and Uncle Cleo.  Cleo was my real dad Bob Hughes’ brother.  I didn’t realize how unusual it was for Russell to allow my Dad’s brother to live with us, but he just went with the flow.  His love for my mom meant that he accepted all of her family.  Looking back now I see how special of a man my Dad was.  He had a genuine love for people.

Early on Russell owned and operated the Independence Foundry.  I remember getting to go to work with him on occasion.  He would pack us up some butter and jelly sandwiches and away we would go.  I mostly just wondered around the property while he was working.  I can remember a few summers where we had a huge garden out behind the foundry and a whole lot of our family would go in together and grow all sorts of vegetables.  I would get to go down to the creek and try to catch crawdads.  I just really enjoyed being with my new dad.  He took an interest in me and loved me……………… and spoiled me every chance he could.  When I would get in trouble with mom all I had to do was go and pout around Russell and he would eventually tell me to get outside.

When I was young in school, he was very adamant that I learned my Math.  That is the main reason that math was my favorite subject in school.  In 2nd grade when I was having trouble learning my multiplication tables, he would sit with me sometimes till midnight drilling me on my times tables and even sending work for me to do at school when he thought that my teacher wasn’t doing enough to teach me.  As the years went by and the school work got harder, I can remember Russell bringing out the Lincoln Library from their bedroom. This huge book has the answers to all sorts of subjects, and when he didn’t know how to help me, we would be looking in the old Lincoln Library till we figured out the answers to what I was needing.  I still have that old tattered Lincoln Library in my study today.  It brings back so many memories of my dad, taking the time to work with me and help me to learn what I needed to so long ago. When I graduated High School, he joked that my diploma belonged to him, since he did most the teaching with me early on.

Describing the holidays around our house was not a big deal to me, but when others hear of how we spent our Thanksgivings and Christmases together, they just shake their heads.  My Mom and Stepdad, my Dad and Stepmom and their kids, and my Stepdad’s ex-wife and their kids would all come together and celebrate, like there was nothing strange about ex spouses and their new spouses being together.  I would later find out that Mom and Russell decided that for the sake of the children, that they would put aside any ill feelings, if there were any, and come together to make everyone feel welcome and loved.  I look back on that, and realize that because of that sacrifice, I was afforded the opportunity to be with my Mom and Dad on the holidays and not have to split the time between the two.  I am so grateful that they did it that way.  That takes a real man, who really loves his bride and her kids, to do that for us.

Of course you could always find Dad on the couch after a big meal.  That was his pastime.  To eat and then nap.  LOL

As I grew older, I really began to appreciate just who my Dad was, and how much he loved all of us.  I can remember one early morning in 1990 or 91, my mom yelling for me to come downstairs from my bedroom.  As I got to the bottom of the stairs, I could see Dad lying on the floor.  We called 911 and they came and rushed him to the hospital.  This was the 1st time that I had ever seen my dad really sick to the point where he needed medical attention.  Come to find out that he had pallops on his colon and was bleeding out.  He was in the hospital for a couple of days.  But just like that in a few weeks he was back up and to his old self.  He was a tough man. He was building a garage in the back yard when he was in his late 60’s to early 70’s.

Later on in life, after we had all moved out and mom and dad were pretty much there by themselves, they began planning a move to Florida.  They sold the house, moved in with Lisa and Bill for a short time, and finally bought a place in Port Orange, FL.  I can remember the trip we took back in 1999.  We went down for Thanksgiving.  Dad looked every bit the part of the retired northerner transplanted to Florida.  They had a nice little place with fruit trees.  Mom was pretty sick by this time and I saw another side of my dad that I hadn’t before.  That of a caretaker.  Mom was on dialysis 3 times a week, and Dad would do everything for her.  Now he had pretty much done all of the cooking since he retired from the foundry.  But now I saw a more tender side of my dad that I wasn’t aware of.  One thing that I do know…………. is that he loved my mom tremendously.

When my mom passed away in February of 2000, I saw a man truly crushed by the loss of the love of his life.  He broke down at the casket when the service was coming to an end.  She was his world.  He was hers too.  I guess he never dreamed that being 17 years older than my mom, that he would have to bury her.  I am so glad that he and my mom found each other.  They rarely ever fought or argued.  I took those things into my own marriage.  I try to love my wife the way that my Dad loved my Mom.  They always said it to one another………… but more importantly they showed one another.  They never left any doubt about that.

As I am sitting here writing and thinking back on this wonderful man, so many thoughts come to mind that I hadn’t mentioned.  He was my hero growing up.  I can remember going through his war box that he carried through Europe during WWII, and him telling me the stories about the pictures that were in it.  I took it upon myself to laminate those pictures to preserve them for the future.  Even though through circumstances beyond my control, I never received that box that he had promised to me before his passing.  But anyhow…………….

He was a tremendous cook.  Sundays were the best days at our house growing up………………. and coming back when we were married and grown.  His chili was the best.  I sat with him in Florida that last trip, and watched and wrote down exactly how he made it.  I cherish that recipe and according to my wife, it is pretty close to his.  I wish I had learned how to make his pies.  There was not much that my dad couldn’t do if he put his mind to it.  My dad had many talents.

In closing, I just want to wish my Dad a Happy Birthday.  I miss you so much.  Even though you were not my birth father, I patterned my life after the example that you taught me.  I have a lot of work to do to measure up to you pop.  Thank you for loving my Mom.  Thank you for loving all of us Hughes kids……………..  You were always there when I needed you.  You are my DADDY!  I hope that even though I didn’t go into medicine and make a boat load of money like you wanted me to, that maybe you were proud that I am trying to make a difference in people’s lives through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Here’s to you Dad……………  I love you!

 

 

 

For This I’m Thankful…………………………………………………

Bro. Ernie Gray (or Dr. Gray as his title is now), was my 2nd Pastor.  In my last post I shared my salvation experience, but that was just the start of a journey that has brought me 30 years into the present.  When Uncle Oscar’s eyesight was beginning to fail some, and the trip to Burlington was too much, he and Aunt Alma started a search for a new church, closer to home.  They lived in Latonia and we lived in Covington, so a church somewhere in that vicinity only made since.  We had visited a couple of churches.  But when we attended that Eastside Church of the Nazarene for the first time, I knew that I wanted to go there.  They had  a great love for people.  I felt at home the very 1st service that we attended.   I believe that even before we started attending there that we had went on a riverboat cruise and to a church picnic with them.  Even beyond the young people and activities that they had, there was someone who got my attention right away…….. and that was Bro. Gray.

Bro. Gray instantly took an interest in me.  He was always encouraging and was always goofing around and joking.  I had only had one Pastor before Him, but I saw in him a man that not Only had a love for God, but also had a heart for people.  He never met a stranger.  He was kind to everyone that he came in contact with.  I can remember just enjoying hearing him preach, and being around him.  Some posts that he has been putting on Facebook recently have brought back some great memories from my start in the Ministry.

He recently posted a picture of an article that describes a time of revival that we were having at the church at the time……..

.

The church was growing, people were being saved, and sanctified.  I saw many backsliders come back to a relationship with Christ.  Many were being baptized also…………… myself included!

It wasn’t long after that Uncle Oscar, Aunt Alma, Mom and I took membership at the church.  I got involved immediately with some of the programs that were going on at church.  I helped Sis Helen Lanham with the children’s church music program, was mowing the lawn for Bro. and Sis. McMillen.  I had a church home and a Pastor that I really looked up to.  I can remember going by the church on the way to or from school, and seeing the big window of the Pastor’s study open wide and seeing Bro. Gray sitting in there studying and preparing for the next service.  It seemed that every day he was doing something.  Except for Monday’s………………..  those were his golf days.  LOL.   He even officiated some of my family’s weddings…………. and funerals.

A couple of years after we had begun attending Eastside, I began to feel the call of God on my heart to preach the gospel.  Now I really loved to sign gospel music and had been doing so in the church choir and solos at church.  I was in the choir in high school also, so that was a natural path for me to be on.  But as I was walking to school one morning, I heard the voice of God speak to my heart and tell me that He was calling me to preach.  I wasn’t sure how to relay this to Bro. Gray, because I thought that maybe I was crazy or something.  I had not experienced this before in my life.  At the time I had begun to date Bro. Gray’s daughter.  I spent a lot of time at the Parsonage with his family.  I would go visiting with him and we became very close.  I approached Bro. Gray about what the Lord had spoken to me.  Without missing a beat, he encouraged me to go for my local Minister’s License and to prepare to preach my first sermon. He gave me sermon outlines and books to study.  I preached my first sermon on Sept. 17th 1989.  I can remember it like it was yesterday.  Bro. Dave Hildebrandt brought the Senior Adult members back from a district meeting early so that the whole church could be there for me.  Again this church had a love like Christ.  Below is the 1st Minister’s Report, that I submitted to renew my License.  At 16 years old, I was embarking on a lifelong commission that continues until today.

Many thought that Bro. Gray had called me preach, since I was dating his daughter.  That could not be further from the truth.  He believed in me when many even in my own family didn’t.  I am forever grateful for his guidance and love in those early months and years.  I was heartbroken when in April or May of 1990 Bro. Gray entrusted something to me.  He explained that he felt that his time at Eastside was coming to a close and that they would be leaving in June.  I wasn’t sure how to feel.  It was like losing a loved one to death.  Yes I was sad that my girlfriend at the time was moving away, but the man that stood behind me in my ministry was leaving.  It took a little bit to get adjusted to.  But in time I realize that it was probably for the best.   I was privileged to go to Hueytown, Alabama back in 2000 to preach a youth revival for Bro. Gray.  I had lost touch with him since then up until a couple of years ago when we reconnected on Facebook.  We have picked up where we left off.  He is still the funny man that I remember.  Some of his posts on Facebook are hilarious.  I read of the things that he is doing at his current Pastorate, and the posts of the people who attend that church, and I know that they are being blessed as much as I was back so long ago.    I was overwhelmed when I saw the pic of the minister’s report that he posted recently.  I couldn’t believe that he had kept that.  After all of these years.  I asked him why and his reply was that it meant something to him.  And still does even today.  He hasn’t been my Pastor since 1990.  That is the man that showed me the love of Christ back then…………….and still today.  I am proud to say that Rev. Ernie Gray is my 1st Father in the Faith.  Perfect he is not.  Neither am I.  I could list things that I have done that would make you hate me probably.  Many have built upon the foundation that Bro. Gray instilled in me way back in 1987-90.  I have patterned many things in my Ministry after not just what he told me…………… but what he SHOWED me by example.  I strive to be a Pastor with the love that it takes to entice people to want to get to know Christ, because they can see Him in me.  That is what Bro. Gray taught me.  To love people…………… and to be funny while doing it!   So Bro. Gray…………….. Thank You.   Thank you for loving me, encouraging me, believing in me, guiding me and feeding me all of those Sunday afternoons.  Thank you for opening your home and your heart to show me all the sides of the Pastorate.  The good and the bad.  When things are great, and there is Revival in the church, and when things are lean and the people are not as happy.  I got a first hand look at what it takes to be a Pastor.  And not just a Pastor, but a Good Pastor.  I am eternally grateful.  I love you Sir.  I am proud to call you my Father in the Faith.   God Bless

 

 

For This I’m Thankful