ANOTHER VIEW: Unexpected discovery reinforces eternal reality of hope_11204

Posted: 1/09/04

ANOTHER VIEW:
Unexpected discovery
reinforces eternal reality of hope

By Don Forrester

Sometimes positive affirmation and unexpected gifts come our way to underscore the reality of God's presence and his unconditional love.

No doubt, we've all had the experience of receiving a “power surge” to lift our spirits.

Those moments of inspiration or periods of inner peace remind us we don't live in isolation. Our God is loving and responsive to our needs. How refreshing it is to discover that he uses all of our life experiences to promote our ultimate greater good.

My niece was only 2 years old when military officials informed our family her dad's plane failed to return to his airbase in Thailand. Although nothing detectable occurred on the radar screen, the plane disappeared over North Vietnam. Her father was listed as missing in action in what became known as the “Christmas bombing raids of 1972.” His plane went down exactly one month before the war officially ended.

I, too, shared her loss. Her father was my twin brother.

Consequently, for more than three decades, my niece has experienced firsthand the realities of living with an empty chair. It saddens her to acknowledge, but most of what she remembers about her dad has been imparted through photographs and information shared with her by her mother, grandparents and other family members.

Folks who are familiar with childhood development know loss re-expresses itself at every developmental level.

Three years ago when my niece got married, unknown to any of her family , she sewed my brother's military nametag to the inside hem of her wedding dress, placing it on the side where her father would have been standing had he been present to give her away. Shortly before the wedding ceremony was to begin, she showed me the nametag, and we both became teary eyed. It was a tender moment and such a thoughtful gesture on her part to honor her father in that way.

This past October, my niece and her husband were blessed with the birth of their first child, a daughter they named Lilian. Words cannot describe the joy and sense of ultimate fulfillment the new role of parenting has orchestrated for my niece and her husband. They are absolutely ecstatic with the responsibility and the enrichment their daughter has contributed to the quality of their lives.

Despite the joy, there have been moments when my niece has experienced a degree of sadness over her dad's absence and the reality that her daughter never will know her grandfather. He will not be a part of her life aside from second-hand information provided by family and loved ones.

As Christmas approached, my niece and her 2-month-old daughter went Christmas shopping with one of my niece's friends.

In one shop, my niece noticed a figurine of a man and child standing in front of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial. It was in a dome container, and she picked it up to examine it more closely. The figurine was titled “Touching His Spirit.” She looked to see if actual names were included on the two panels of the Vietnam Wall that were shown or if they only looked like writing.

She had a surreal feeling when she saw the first name on the left was the name on the panel where her dad's name is listed. She followed the column down, and Ronald W. Forrester was clearly printed on the figurine she held in her hands. She didn't have to think twice before wiping away her tears and heading for the checkout counter with this wonderful unexpected gift.

I can't even write about her experience without becoming teary eyed, but what a wonderful sense of affirmation and reinforcement of the continued sense of family and connectedness that will always be ours.

Ultimately, it was God's gift at Christmas, the birth of a Savior, that makes possible our hope for eternity. My niece's unexpected discovery only serves to reinforce the eternal reality of that truth.

Don Forrester is executive director of STARRY, an agency affiliated with Texas Baptist Children's Home & Family Services, and pastor of Henly Baptist Church in Dripping Springs