Letter from dad and Dad

A few months ago, i came home from a very long day. My day started at around 6 a.m. when i left the house en route to a golf tournament at SPI. By the time we were done playing golf, it was time for work and i went straight to the newsroom for an eight hour shift. It was about 11 p.m. by the time i got home and i was tired to say the least.

I was drained. No energy to even take my shoes off. i walked srtaight to my bedroom and fell on the bed ready to sleep. But i couldn't. Jesus wanted to talk. And who am I to tell Jesus i was too tired to talk.

So i sat up and i prayed. I talked to Him for a few moments thanking him for my job and family and friends. You know? The usual...i mean i was dead tired. Then i felt Him asking me about my dad.

My dad passed away a few days before my 19th birthday in February 1996. Thirteen years later, i still miss my pops sometimes. But my relationship with our Lord has helped fill that void immensely.

Well I'm sitting there praying and I start thinking about my dad. I start praying for closeness with my pop. A closeness we once had through a wonderful relationship. But one i hadn't experienced in 13 years. I didn't even know i longed for that closeness but here i was praying for it.

I'd always heard my dad was a man of God. My mom would talk about his faith and amazing relationship with our Heavenly Father. But i never saw it. Or maybe i never sought it while he was still alive.

But here I was 13 years after his death wanting that closeness all over again. I stood up after a short prayer and walked to a desk where we have an old family Bible. This Bible is huge and its in spanish. So i start thumbing through it checking to see if my dad left any notes on the side of the pages. Maybe these notes would give me an insight to my dad's relationship with God, I thought.

After looking through the Bible a few times, i almost gave up and went back to bed. But just as I gave it one more look-through, i found a yellowed, piece of folded paper with handwritten notes. Even 13 years later, I recognized my dad's handwriting.

The note read (in spanish):
Espiritu santo, tu que aclaras todo y que iluminas todos los caminos para que yo alcanse mi ideal, tu que me das el don divino de perdonar y olvidar el mal que me hacen y en que todos los instantes de mi vida estas con migo.

Yo quiero en esto corto dialogo agradecerte por todo y confirmar una vez mas que nunca quiero separarme de ti, por grande que sea la ilusion material. Deseo estar contigo y todos mi ser queridos en la gloria perpetua. Gracias por tu misericordia para conmigo y los mios.

Basically my dad was writing to the Holy Spirit thanking Him for his mercy. He acknowledged Him as the light in his life and as his strength to forgive and forget. My dad wanted to confirm once and for all, that he didn't want to be seperated from his God no matter what the world through his way.

It was a personal letter to the Holy Spirit like the ones he'd written me so many times when i was away in college. My dad's relationship with our Lord was so strong he'd write letters. I was amazed and blessed to have this insight to my dad's relationship with Jesus.

After discovering and reading the letter, i cried, smiled and prayed. My dad wrote that letter some time before he passed away. There was no date other than 5 de Febrero. No year or anything else that would let me figure out when he wrote it. I guess it doesnt matter. All that mattered was that God wanted me to read it all these years later.

I felt that closeness with my dad once again. But more importantly, I felt great closeness with our Heavenly Father, God.