I buried my dad yesterday. As you can imagine, it wasn’t an easy thing to do, but I must say that God’s grace is amazing during times such as these. For those of you who do not know, I eulogized my dad and sang at his memorial service. The truth is that I didn’t know whether or not I’d be able to do this. Again, God’s grace is sublime. All of the “Footprints in the Sand” type of thoughts swim through my mind right now, knowing that surviving the last few days, not to mention performing at my father’s funeral, was nothing short of a “God thing”. When people asked me after the service how I was able to do such a thing, the only word that came to mind was “GRACE” – God’s unmerited favor. It was simply a step of faith, trusting Him to do it through me. It wasn’t me speaking or singing during that service, but it was the Lord Himself doing it through me. For that I am eternally grateful – grateful that He was there in the midst of our grief, displaying His power and peace in an extremely difficult time.
For those of you who know me, below is the eulogy I read in honor of my dad’s passing. If you’re experiencing the untimely or difficult loss of a loved one, perhaps what I wrote will be of some comfort to you.
Eulogy for My Dad – Frank W. Osborn
Truth be known – the past 20 years or so haven’t been the easiest for our family nor for dad. It’s no secret that he had his share of problems and caused a lot of heartache with the path that he chose. Unfortunately, his addiction took him down a path from which he never recovered.
In reality, my family has been grieving over my dad for many years. I think most of us feel like we probably lost him several years ago. But I know that God had purpose in the workings of my dad’s life.
Romans 8:28 states: “all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” On this side of eternity, we don’t always understand the whys and the hows, but through our faith and trust in Christ, we know that God has His will woven throughout the fabric of our lives – creating something beautiful out of the good and the bad that many times we don’t have eyes to see or the mind to understand.
One thing though, that I do understand is that my dad placed his trust in Christ as his Savior later in life, displaying a quiet, simple faith in God. For that I am truly thankful. Today he is in Heaven with his Savior and is rejoicing – free of the sick and frail body that so betrayed him over the past several years – in fact, he’s probably fishing right now.
My brothers (Vince and Luke) and I met with Sylvia (the minister) yesterday to discuss my dad’s life. We spoke of the joys and the hardships that we’ve experienced throughout our lives because of my dad. Through this time, along with our discussions and meetings with friends and family, three things have become overwhelmingly apparent to us through this time of bereavement:
- People loved my dad.
- We have a terrific family.
- God is good.
Much of whom we are, we owe to my dad. Probably the biggest blessing of which we were reminded during this difficult time is that dad loved us. We’ve never doubted that. We will miss him greatly, but rejoice in his final homecoming, knowing that NOW he’s free to fly above the difficulties of his troubled life.
We love you dad and look forward to seeing you again one day in glory. I hope the fish are biting up there!
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