Family

I woke up to take Dad to his conference. I thanked him for all he had done raising me well. I talked about how I had gone astray in high school and college, but was glad I refocused. It was a result of all that my parents had taught me and fortunately I returned to being a hard worker and good student. During the drive over to Cityplace, I told him that I was glad to be where I am now in life thanks to his guidance and analogous to that, I wanted Dad to be in heaven with me one day as a result of him hopefully being affected by my witnessing to him. He didn't really say much except that he would see me after the meeting.

I went home and napped before Amy left for work. I feel bad that I asked my wife who is pregnant with twins to work my shift today. Still, it was so that I could spend time with my dad, and I don't know how much time I have left to cherish these moments. Ruth and I went to get the inspection sticker updated on the minivan. Ruth, in addition to saying "baba" (indicating "diaper"), now likes to lay on the ground when a diaper change is needed. It looked peculiar to have a 19 month old laying on the floor of a gas station (especially in front of the beer), but I had to wait for the vehicle to be finished with the inspection before I could change her. We went to Target to get some detergent and picked Dad up at Cityplace. We stopped by Borders to get Ben and headed to eat dim sum at Kirin Court in Richardson. There I ran into a patient I had seen at work a few months back. Ruth didn't eat a lot since she had some eggs from Jack-in-the-Box for breakfast but she did some noodles and duck. I enjoyed the jellyfish as usual because good jellyfish is hard to come by around these parts (west of the prime meridian). We dropped Ben off and headed to the Rockwall lakehouse to get Dad's jacket. Ruth got a good nap during that drive. From there we went to Millie's birthday party. I brought Dad along and everyone from small group was nice and made him feel welcome. Ruth was shy at first but eventually played with the tricycle, doll, and later the bounce house. It took some coaxing, but after everyone left (except Anna and Ben), she got in there and actually did great. She fell at first, but learned how to balance herself in there. She actually jumped a little bit and did well even with the Harvey boys jumping around. (See more pictures at http://nbcsmallgroup.blogspot.com/) We left a little early to get to the hospital so that I could do the ultrasound inservice for the nurses. We had an awesome turnout, and I spread the gospel of bedside ultrasound to the nurses. Dad watched Ruth while I was doing the ultrasound teaching. Amy, Ben, Dad, Ruth, and I had dinner at the Thai restaurant by my house. At home, Ruth laid on my lap in bed and fell asleep immediately. It was a long but great day with family.

Last night as I was laying in bed, I had these thoughts of how I would witness to Dad. It came quite simply as the analogy I had mentioned. My parents wanted the best for my future so they prepared me well. I want the best for my parents so I made another effort to explain to Dad that my belief is not that good works leads to an afterlife in heaven, but instead the belief that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that imperfect people can be atoned for their sins and that it is made righteous for us to be with God in heaven forever. I don't know how much impact this repeat witnessing will have, but I understand God is ultimately in control. I think about the Paul Baloche song that Travis played at the One Service last week. "Our God Saves" is now in my iPhone and is a catchy tune, but reminds me of the salvation that I pray for my family to have. Psalm 68:20 says, "Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death." I was recently reminded during Amy's grandmother's funeral of Amy's aunt's funeral in the same church during my second year of medical school. That day, I realized that although her aunt had secured her trip to heaven, my parents had not so I cried harder than any of the immediate family. I immediately went to my parents and pleaded that they accept Christ. After that day, I gave up on trying to convert them since I felt I had laid it out for them. It was in their court and obviously in God's hands. Today was the first time since 2002 in which I talked about salvation again to my family which is a very long time. I wish my actions and life spoke louder than words, but I am working on it and making progress. I want to live a life that glorifies Him in everyway. I fall short daily, but I will keep trying.