You probably don’t see many of these kind of tributes. In this day and era, it is more common to trash in-laws and put down the extended family than to thank God for them. But, today, I want to thank God for my father-in-law, Charles Haymore.  He won’t be able to read it. He’s home in heaven with God, but I want God and others to know of my appreciation for him. I’m thinking about him today more than most days because it is his birthday.

I thank God for him for many reasons. First and foremost I thank God because he was an authentic believer in Jesus, a real man of God, and a Christian gentleman, and I recognized this even as a teenager.  I always expected my preacher to be a man of God, but when I saw others–like Charles–live the faith in a genuine way, I was highly impressed and encouraged. He lived his faith in the way he treated people, in the way he did family, in the way he did business, and in his love for the church.

I thank God for the way he led his family. I was around him a lot because I fell in love with his daughter, and I spent a lot of time in his home.  He led his family in the right way.  He loved his wife deeply, and it showed in the way he treated her. He cared for his six children far beyond the ordinary. He loved them, disciplined them firmly yet gently, worked hard to provide for them, had fun with them, taught them, laughed with them, modeled the Christian faith to them, and played games with them.  He was the best possible dad and a great example to me.

I thank God that his love was not limited to his own family. Most of the times I was a guest in his home, there were others present. He would invite a widow to share a family meal, and then to become part of the family. Airmen from out-of-town were adopted into the family and given a place off-base to stay. Students from oversees lived with him for a semester or two. And there were always boys like me who spent as much time as possible at his house, because he had and still has five pretty daughters. We were fed, loved, and treated as part of the family.  If we were around in the evening, we were also included in the family prayer times.

I thank God for the way he treated me.  I’m his son-in-law, but you can essentially drop the “in-law” part. He treated me as a son and accepted me into the family. When Dawn and I had some marital issues, there were no condemnations or accusations thrown my way.  He didn’t take sides.  He loved us both, continued to treat me as a son, and encouraged us to work things out.

I don’t want you to think he was a perfect man; only Jesus has lived a perfect life.  But when he made a mistake, he admitted it to his family. I remember getting a call from him when he made a poor business decision. He called me, told me the truth about what happened, and accepted the responsibility for it. I admired him for his honesty and integrity even when he made a mistake.

And, mostly, I thank God because of the daughter he raised.  She is in many ways like her father.  From him (and from her mom), she learned honesty, integrity, gentleness, the value of hard work, the importance of family, and the need to live life as a Christian in all ways. I am benefiting every day from Charles’ contribution as a father, because I can see his many characteristics in my wife.

I can’t tell him this today, because he’s not here.  But I can and do thank God for him!