Miracles

I am confident there were many miracles in his life. There are probably many that I don't know about, but two I do know:

A half dozen years ago or so, Dad had bought an old Dodge pickup with holes in the floorboard that he had to cover over with a board. He had a gasoline powered pump and tank rigged up in the back of the old pickup. He would park it along the side of the road to get water out of a nearby creek and then pump it out to water his garden and yard. One day, just seconds after he had moved away from the driver's side rear, the truck was struck by an elderly driver that didn't notice the truck parked on the edge of the road. It totaled the truck, the driver of the other car went to the hospital, but Dad was untouched. That day we were miraculously given the gift of just a few more years to be sure to tell and show him that we loved him.

But the biggest miracle I know of was during the time I was in college in Des Moines, Iowa. It was my first time away from home and I was having trouble adjusting. I was worried that if I failed to continue that line of study that I would be a terrible disappointment to him.

So I wrote him a letter. At that time he was staying with my Grandmother, his mother Kate Baxter, in Naylor, Missouri, as he worked to complete the house next door to her (that unfinished house mentioned earlier) so that it could be sold. I mailed that letter late one afternoon from Des Moines. By some miracle that letter was delivered to Grandma's post office box in Naylor the very next morning. It had to be a miracle to get that letter though the U.S. Postal Service all the way from Des Moines to St. Louis, then to Poplar Bluff, then on to Naylor, and finally into that P.O. Box - though several transfer points and over 500 miles - in less than 12 hours!

Just as surprising is the fact that on that morning my Dad went to the Post Office just as soon as it opened before he started working on the house. He got that letter, read it, and immediately picked up the telephone and called me. The college officials came and got me out of my class that morning because my Dad was calling with an urgent message that could not wait.

Over the telephone that morning he told me that he loved me ... regardless of how well I did in school ... or whether I stayed at that particular school or did anything else that I wanted to do ... whatever ... he loved me and would always love me.

And that unconditional love that my Dad gave to me is a perfect example of the love of Jesus Christ for each of us. Johnie E. Baxter lived his life as a true Christian. His life example is the greatest legacy he has left for each of us to cherish in our memories, and has provided a path for us to follow in his footsteps.

2011-11-27 10:57:03 RBaxter

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