Don't Tell Me God Doesn't Exist--He's My Joy and Strength!!

God is so good! The morning I discovered my dad was dead on my way to work two years ago today, I had a very special devotional time that morning. Both my cats joined me which was very unusual. Usually, it would just be Spunky Doodle up on the table while I would read my Bible but that day, Gerard brought Moe up too and Moe stayed on my lap and let me pet him as well which NEVER happened before! At that point, I was expecting a nice happy Friday donut at work but then just an hour later, my world crashed.

I used to always stop by my dad's on the way to work, to visit a little bit with him and his cats. He'd be up and have the door unlocked for me. When it got there, the door was locked which triggered a bad feeling. I used my key and went in and all the lights were out. I looked for dad. I found him on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet with his head on the tub, dead. It was awful. It was the day I knew would come some time, not then! Not this soon! He was 89 and had lived a very good life, and died on his terms--at home, on his own. That's the way he wanted it.

When I went upstairs to feed and take care of his cats for him that day, they too acted strangely, as though they knew something was wrong. Normally, they came running to the kitchen and couldn't get the Whiskas fast enough. That morning, they just laid in their beds under the table. I cried with his cats. We shared our sorrow. Then everything got really crazy. It's a morning I'll probably never forget--the worst day of my life!

I wrote a little more about the other things that happened that day on my other blog, "My Funny Dad, Harry" which I won't repeat here. If you'd like to hear more, check out . Just a week later, during my quiet time, I decided to write a book about him in his memory. This is a excerpt from my journal just a week later:

I know this is all coming from the Lord, because I never planned on doing anything like this, but boy, I know I can do it. First thing I did was look up the reference of that verse in Micah that I want to include in my book. It is Micah 6:8, but as I was trying to find Micah, a verse in Nahum just “popped” out at me. Nahum 1:7: The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in Him.

Through the next few months, God was strengthening me and helping me through the difficult tasks that had to be done. I saw first hand how good God is. I took off that whole week from work and after that, only went in two days a week for about six weeks so I could focus on getting the house cleaned out and began my book right away. How God helped me through this time is included in my book as well.

I wanted to write it while everything was fresh so the emotions would come through and I believe they did. I wrote from my heart and was determined to get it published before the end of the year, which I did. I don't generally promote my book on this blog, but today is the second anniversary of my dad's death so this is naturally on my mind. He was a wonderful father and husband, a truly amazing man who I want the world to know. Here is the link if you'd like to order it: www.outskirtspress.com/myfunnydadharry. By the way, if you are a blogger and read my book, please let me know and I'll add your blog link to my list of readers.