Carol's Dad

by Vinetta Sanderson

June 2006

If you are praying for a husband or dad to come to know Jesus as their personal Savior, this inspiring testimony will encourage you to keep praying and believing God to answer. This article was written and shared with me by Carol Dudgeon.

-  The year was 1914. World War I broke out
-  Canada's economic situation was bleak
-  The price of a 1914 Ford Model T car was $440
-  A Cadillac 4 door touring, 5 passenger car was $1975 with an option of hand lamp for $2
-  Many women had begun to cut their hair when doing war work for practical reasons
-  Tarzan and the Ape was published in novel form
-  The Panama Canal was completed and opened after 10 years of digging
-  The world's first red and green traffic lights were installed in Cleveland
-  The old version of "O Canada" was the best known patriotic song in Canada, edging out "The Maple Leaf Forever"
-  A first class postage stamp was worth .02
-  On Sunday, August 23, 1914, Joseph Miller Dudgeon was born... my Dad

Dad was one of 12 children.  His father was an orphan who came from England when he was 13.  Dad had fourth grade education.  We lived on a farm not far from the place where Dad grew up. He never traveled many miles from that area until his own children grew up and moved away.  Born when horses and buggies were the main means of transportation, going to visit Niagara Falls and flying to Halifax on a plane were almost unbelievable.

I am not able to speak of Dad without mentioning Mom.  They were married on Sept. 11, 1937.  Mom rededicated her life to Christ after marrying Dad.  Being concerned about living for Christ and raising her children without the spiritual support of her husband, she knelt one night fervently praying in a church prayer room. The minister's wife came and put her hand on her back and prayed Galatians 6:9 "do not be weary in well doing; for in due season you shall reap, if you faint not."

Dad loved laughter.  He worked hard, was kind and very funny.  He lived a good moral life, displaying Christian character most of the time but never really wanted a relationship with God.  I only heard my father pray a few times at meals and once in church when he misunderstood "Sister Dudgeon" for "Mr. Dudgeon" and prayed like he knew God!  After he joked with us saying, "You didn't think I even knew how to pray."  We always sat down around the table for meals and there exchanged many funny stories.

Dad was a patient, caring, generous man. He let me have the car when my friends weren't allowed. When my sister drove the car home about 2 km with a flat tire , he never seemed to get upset. The first time I went to children's camp I got so homesick I thought I would die.  I had never been away from home before.  After only a couple of days I called home in tears.  When I asked "can I come home", Dad's response was "YOU SURE CAN".  I can hear him today! Even after I had left home, Mom and Dad stayed up until I was safely home. 

Dad never objected to us going to church and generally went Sunday night unless there was a hockey game playoff or the World Series. Sundays were days to attend church and not for work. He would watch church services on television and especially enjoyed The Peoples Church and Rex Humbard.  Rex would always quote James 5:14 ("is any sick among you, let him call the elders of the church..."). Well, Dad would always quote that verse or any other verse from the Bible and reference James 5:14.  "Thou shalt not steal," James 5:14;  "In the beginning, God..." James 5:14!

Dad smoked most of his life resulting in health problems.  He developed emphysema and had to be on oxygen.  Mom would do the shopping and Dad would sit and wait for her in the car, visiting whoever came by.  Several times Mom would return to the car to find Dad sitting with her plastic rain hat on, tied very tightly, looking ever so hot with it!  He did it for laughs and the reaction of people walking by.

1985 was a big year.  I graduated with my Master's degree and Mom and Dad were there to celebrate with me.  Then I went to Africa.  While I was there, Dad became very ill and was not expected to live.  When I arrived home my friends met me with the news... "Your Dad almost died, but he accepted the Lord as his Saviour." 

We had prayed for years for Dad's decision to put his faith in Jesus.  Although he said, "They would probably call this one of those deathbed confessions," Dad lived another six years.  He told Mom, "... it was you and the kids... the way you lived your life..."  Dad was 71 when he accepted the Lord as his personal Saviour. My Mom, my brother and sister and I had prayed for him all those years.  For over 40 years Mom never failed to pray for Dad and her kids.  She had received the promise 40 years before, "Do not be weary in well doing, for in due season, you will reap if you faint not."  The Message puts it this way.  "So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good.  At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit." 

She did reap and harvest a good crop.  Her children and now her husband were all believers in Jesus Christ.   At times she may have wondered when he showed no desire to change, but she remained faithful in prayer with the promise in her heart.  She knew God was faithful.  She honored God and God honored her. 

In 1991, Joseph Miller Dudgeon passed away.  The assurance of heaven was his because six years earlier he had made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ.

Here are some practical assignments for Father's Day... and any day...

1.  Display Fondness - To those who have a Father still living, show him you love him; tell him you cherish the time you have with him.

2.  Faint Not - If your dad or husband is not a believer in Jesus, or your children do not share your spiritual desires - remain faithful - don't give up - God is faithful.  James 5:16 "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much."  The Message says "the prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with."

3.  Forgive - to those whose father was not a good dad or man - wrap your arms around God's grace and accept the fact that in spite of what has happened in the past, God profoundly loves you.  Choose to forgive. 

4.  Flaunt Your Faith - To the fathers - especially young fathers with children looking up to you, the instruction of God's Word is "Place these words of God on your hearts.  Get them deep inside you.  Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder.  Teach them to your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning until you fall into bed at night.  Inscribe them on the doorposts and gates of your cities."  (Deuteronomy 11:18-25)

5.  Find Faith - If you are a person (father or not) and you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, God, your Heavenly Father is seeking you and when you ask, as I did, "Can I come home?" He will eagerly respond "YOU SURE CAN".  "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life."  (John 3:16) "Look at me.  I stand at the door.  I knock.  If you hear me call and open the door, I'll come right in and sit down to supper with you."  (Rev.3:20)

The world has changed since 1914 when my Dad was born.  We now pay .51 cents for a postage stamp (in Canada).  Fords cost more than $400 and we have traffic lights every few blocks.  But some things never change.  I had a wonderful Dad - that won't change.  We will reap in due season if we do not faint. At the right time, we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up or quit. 

God is faithful and unchanging... so keep praying!