For Dad - Thanks

Well, I'm here in the middle of the renewal process for my passport, and I got to one question that made me stop and think: 

Who is your emergency contact?

I thought for a moment, thinking of all the people who love me and whom I have loved, yet knowing the obvious answer. As I typed my dad's name, I thought about the beautiful cycle that was taking place in that moment. Here I was, renewing my passport for the purpose of spreading the Word to the lost. The first time I ever had need for a passport I was 7 and going with my parents to a far-away land as the smallest member of Mel LaMar Ministries. I was always included in his ministry. It was never just my dad who was preaching. Instead, he made it clear that I, in my own small way, was joining him in ministry to the glory of the King. 

It was through this trip and many others, that I was taught to see my importance in the building of the Kingdom. My dad would call me his partner and encourage me to find my own ministry opportunities inside of M.L.M. We would juggle together, sing together, and at the end of every meeting, give glory to G0d together for the lives that had been submitted to Chr1st.  

It was easy for me to think of my roles as unimportant or just as something to do, but my dad deliberately and intentionally taught me that what I was doing was for the L0rd, and that I should therefore do it with all my heart. 

What a blessing to be taught such a wonderful thing for so much of my life. 

So, now I plan to go to a far-away land with a new man. A new leader has stepped into place over me, and he will now be the one to pray, laugh, and cry with me - yet with the same purpose as ever: to bring glory to the One who is worthy of it. 

I'm so thankful for the men who have been placed as leaders over my life. This post goes to the man who first taught me how to love Je$us. Who sometimes (if I woke up early enough) I would see praying in the middle of the living room, knelt over the couch. Who would slap his B1ble down on the kitchen table before, after, or in the middle of dinner so he could lead us through a chapter or so of what he knew to be the best, most wonderful book in all the world. And who - above all else - uses his life to glorify our King through joyful obedience and trust. 

Thanks, Dad. I love you.