Daddy is retiring! Just that he is completing his official tenure of
service as he completes his 67years, the journey is all set to continue! He
began in the year 1985 as a passionate young man, who was all set to serve the
Lord. Born to parents in a small village down South Tamilnadu, little did he
know that he would be instrumental in changing the lives of many!
From his dear hairdresser to his favourite doctor, we have interacted
with all those who were/are a part of his life till date. I remember, a few
years back an ironman who lived close by came to our house one fine morning
with his daughter who had just completed her 12th standard exams
with a heart full of gratitude. It was just a month since he was deployed in
that church then. The puzzled look on our faces (Mom and Me) continued until he
started after a few minutes of silence, seems the previous day dad had
accompanied the father and the daughter to a college which was some 25
kilometres away from our locality in bus and has done all that was required to
get her a seat for a UG degree. We were so happy, but he did never talk about
it at all the previous day or thereafter, as if it was not a big thing at all!
It indeed was a big thing for me, for I knew how busy his schedule used to be
then! He always lived on what he preached about!
We had lived in parsonages big and small, but we have never heard him
complain, not once! He had never been after any man for any favour at all! We did learn from him to appreciate every
little thing in our lives! He is no super human, he does lose his temper
quickly at times, and has a fragile heart, but just that he was faithful to his
calling, to put on with the most difficult of times, to stay calm during storms
and to walk away from situations that threatened his peace of mind!
It was during the year 2000, when he was diagnosed with glaucoma, which
led to his partial loss of vision, all that he prayed was to have enough light
in his eyes until he completed his service! His master has always been faithful
to him, for there is still light in his eyes! There is light all around him!
Faith does work miracles, and we have seen it all through thick and thin!
Whenever we fall ill, the first thing we do is to ring him for prayer, and only
then the doctor! We certainly owe all the blessings in our lives today to his
prayers!
Thank you for being always there for us! Thank you for standing by the
choices we made! We owe all that we are today to you daddy! We cannot repay
even half of whatever you’ve done for us! If there is one thing that we could
do, it would be to walk the path that you had shown us; to always look out for
the difficulties faced by the people around us, to volunteer whenever possible
for social work, to give beyond what we
think we could afford, to love unconditionally, to be honest in all
circumstances, to help without any expectations, to always stand up for the
right, to take it all to the Lord, to be humble and to be just us, no matter
what!
Your momma would be very happy for you daddy as her dream is complete
today! The standards that you had set for us are always high and we still
aspire to meet them hundred percent! The values that your parents had passed on
to you is what we always try to instil in our little sons too! When it comes to
talking about our sons, I certainly want to tell something. Dad had never been
upset about not having a son, though it was an endless point of concern for
many, the good Lord has blessed him with two sons and four grandsons today!
Thank you for reading, please do remember him in your prayers! He is
fondly known as Iyya by all and his Momma and Pappa chose to name him Asir
Joseph. He is now Reverend M. Asir Joseph.
