“Jesus come to seek and save that which was lost…” Matt. 19:10
June 12, 2023 - When I was in the second grade, my Dad took me, Uncle Jink, and my brothers on a fishing trip to Mill Creek. This cold, spring fed creek was a great fishing place and was the sole water supply for my hometown of Center, Texas. We arrived at the pump station on a hot, summer afternoon equipped with catalpa worms, hooks, cane poles… and plenty of peanut butter and crackers.
I crossed the creek on a familiar foot log and raced down a trail to my favorite slough. My stringer of goggle eyed perch was growing so fast that I didn’t consider the dangerous thunderstorm that was approaching or the falling darkness. Sensing my peril too late, I desperately searched for the creek trail, but was soon overcome by the darkness and rain.
After shouting myself to hoarseness, I began a disoriented four hour walk in the blind darkness. My heart leaped for joy when I finally spotted a light shining in Walter Bound’s chicken house. After standing me to dry in front of his fireplace, he put his daughter’s dress on me, and drove me down to the creek.
Fire Chief Dr. Hap Rogers and twenty members of the Center Fire Department met us at the pump station. After giving me a quarter and a hug, he told me a moving story about my father. “Your dad wouldn’t give up on you. He kept diving in the dark under that bunch of driftwood. He said he’d last seen you crossing the foot log there.” I’m eternally grateful to have a father who loved me like that.
Seven years later, I was rescued by my Father in Heaven… and so was my Dad. And we’re both eternally grateful to a Father who loved us like that.
Janetta Searcy told me that the kids at school called me a hero… but I know better… the real hero was my dad!
