strength in his voice

Today I was on the other side of the room from my Dad as we worshipped together. This doesn’t happen as often as I would like it to…and as I paused and listened to all our voices rising together in worship – I realized what a priceless gift hearing his voice is, as is distinctly stood out and rose above the other voices in the room.

From my earliest memories, the sound of his booming voice accompanies so many of the vivid scenes I recall….

Reading by the fire, night after night and winter after winter, He used his voice to make the words of C.S. Lewis come alive in each chapter and character. From those early days in my childhood he was creating a hunger for more story in my life, to taste of the faith of mystery of Narnia.

So many mornings I awoke to the sounds as he walked up the stairs singing his own versions of the hymns that marked his faith journey. And although I still can’t quite remember the exact words he was trying to sing, I knew they flowed from his love for his Lord and his relationship he leaned on.  

He has always been a teacher. For many years he taught us as we learned at home; History, Math, Latin from his Latin book from the 1960s. He taught his Sunday sermons and small group studies.  I also had many a private one-on-one sermons with him. More than I actually care to recall.

So many times when I heard his encouraging, coaching words of instruction from the sidelines of our sporting events I wondered how his voice seemed to carry more power and oomph than the ones coming through the bullhorns… and I now get to hear him “cheering” from the sidelines of his grandkids games.

As I look back and reflect on the power in his voice in my life and sit in the beauty of hearing it rise along with mine in worship on the other side of this room, I am overwhelmed with thankfulness and joy. I have been given such a gift in his voice.  It echoes deep in my soul, and rises as a sacrifice of praise to the heaven.  And with his voice, just as with his life, I am encouraged, challenged, and inspired to grow deeper in my faith. I find that the presence and reality of his voice in my life has brought peace and strength in more times than I can even begin to realize.