Henry Helmuth

My Dad’s “Coronation Day” was seven years ago the day I wrote this. When I was first wading through my newly grief-soaked life, I journaled regularly on things I missed about him. Today, you get to be in on one of those stories.

We called it Santa’s Workshop. My Dad often put his masterful carpentry skills to work, fashioning presents for us. Just how many times did he work late into Christmas Eve putting the finishing (or beginning) touches on the gifts he was lovingly and skillfully making for us?

One year, I had this dream of a curved-front stereo cabinet. I drew it up and emailed it to Dad, not imagining he would bring it to life. But Christmas morning, standing with my bare feet on the cold garage floor, I couldn’t believe he had turned my dream into an outstanding birch reality.

It wasn’t finished, and this turned out to be part of the gift. Together, we finished it…assembling, hammering, sanding, varnishing.

I often helped him in his shop, and I was always amazed at how he would go about creating something. I could never understand how the pieces he was cutting and hammering would fit together into the final product…but at the last minute, marvelously, they’d come together, bringing order (that was always there) from my perceived chaos. He was masterful, and you always had this feeling that he absolutely knew what he was doing.

Thanks, Dad, for teaching me (and us) to trust our Heavenly Father, even when we can’t imagine how the events and experiences of our lives are “working together for the good of those who love Him…” I miss you!

So make it personal. Undoubtedly there are areas of your life that feel unfinished, chaotic, and with an uncertain outcome. Trust the Father - He knows what He’s doing. And He’ll bring the work to completion.

-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)

Henry Helmuth (Nº 15)