Where Are They Now? Day Thirty-One
the heart of Biblical Greats
October 31st, 2021
MY DAD
Isaiah 58:12, ‘I will give you a full life in the emptiest of places.’ (TPT)
In closing this month’s series, Where Are They Now, I wanted to share the following. My dad was steadfast and passionate in his love for the Lord, and because of His devotion to a Holy God, I can know with an absolute certainty where he is now. I even likely know what he is doing, which would find him seated at the feet of Jesus, amazed and astounded at his good fortune. There will be many, many people in heaven someday, I believe, who are there because of my dad’s faithfulness in sharing Jesus with anyone he met. My parents served in the Colorado Department of Corrections for thirty-seven years, and at least a third of the attendants at his recent memorial service were ex-offenders, many who he had led to the Lord. It was his humility that drew people to him, because he had once been where many broken individuals find themselves at, alone and without hope until Jesus wipes away the darkness with His light.
This is what I shared at his Memorial Service:
Hi. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Michelle. Or Michi, as I was known by my dad. I had the extreme privilege of being Dick Gott’s only daughter, and I think later in life one of his closest confidantes. I was his number one fan; he was mine. In the last year and a half, I would be able to become a caregiver to him and my mom, especially to my dad, as he began a steady decline. It has been my deepest honor to serve my parents.
I have prayed a lot about what I would share here with you today.
I could share with you that my dad and I weren’t always close; that there would be unfortunate years that we weren’t in much communication and rarely saw one another, and certainly didn’t see eye to eye.
I could share with you that he was, from the time I was very young, my hero, but that I never felt like I measured up or could please him satisfactorily. I would spend a lifetime trying to achieve his attention and affection.
I could share that he didn’t always walk closely with the Lord; nor lean on Him exclusively. For years I would feel frustrated when I would be greeted the same by anyone knowing my parents now: “OMG! You are the daughter of Dick & Carol Gott! You are so blessed to call them Dad and Mom!” And I’d think, o wow; It wasn’t like that at all. See, we had the same broken home that many of those who my parents would come to serve had.
I could share that when the Lord arrested my parent’s heart, it was whole and complete and immediate, and nothing after that was ever the same. I was blessed I now believe with my entire being to be able to witness an entire transformation of lives headed in one direction, and suddenly grasped and turned completely to an opposite path.
I could share that in the past two years the Lord drastically changed my life, and my parents’ needs almost simultaneously, and I began to marvel at the melding of a plan scripted by the Lord. I became a part of a story much larger than me; I was being woven into a tapestry sewed from raveled edges, threads that had come undone and needing restitched.
I could also tell you that my dad would say on the many days I was planning to spend with him and my mom, “Yay! Yippee! This is the day my Michi comes!” He became my best friend. When I wasn’t with him, he was a constant on my mind.
Or I could share that there would occur this debate: “Wonder what Michi is going to bring me today? I wonder…maybe biscuits and gravy or hmmm maybe Chic-Fila.” To which my mom would reply, “Well honey that’s not really required, not her job, not necessary.” And my dad would say, “I know, but I wonder what Michi is bringing to me today….because she will; I know she’s bringing me something. She always does. I wonder what it will be today…” I loved spoiling my dad and making him feel as important to me as he made me feel to him, and the memories we made are unexplainable in the English language.
Yes, I could tell you all these things, and many more. I also know you all likely have versions of my dad I may not even know, and I hope I will have time in the future to hear snatches of my dad which were important to you.
But really what I came here to tell you today, what I would be remiss if I didn’t say, what I hear my dad whisper in my ear, “Michi, you tell them; you tell them, Michi, what I want His children to hear, what I want to say to them. Michi, you tell them for me how much Jesus loves them. Tell them how passionately He pursues them, their hearts, how He loves them, how He purposes for them and plans with them. Michi, don’t let anyone leave today until they hear my heart for them.”
See, my dad fell in love with Jesus in a very powerful way years ago, but it would take a lifetime to leave this legacy behind. My dad would also pray for the hearts of his children and his grandchildren and his great grandchildren, and that of his friends, both those inside prison walls as well as outside the walls of prison, to be changed and to be arrested by Jesus just as his had been. And on the very day he would pass, my dad would be heard praying over me and you, all of us, blessing us and encouraging us to find and receive and grasp God’s faithfulness and His endless mercies which are new every morning.
I would be my dad’s last call not long before he was escorted into Paradise —and that is not for any other reason than because I think he was saying good-bye, and passing on the torch; reminding me to tell you, not how much his life meant to all of us and to Jesus, but how much yours does; how much you all meant to him, but even more so, how much you all, every one of us, mean to a Holy God. He would want to thank you for your relationship with him but also he would desire you to be there with him someday. He would care about your eternity and your relationship with Jesus, for you also to hear those words that I know the Lord spoke personally to my dad when he entered his forever, “Well done, My good and faithful servant, welcome home.”
My name is Michi and I am so blessed to be the daughter of a wonderful man, Dick Gott. I cherish my memories. I so needed your counsel and I miss you so much, Dad; I won’t ever be the same. Til I see you again. I love you. Michi
John 3:16-17, ‘”For here is the way God loved the world—He gave His only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in Him will never perish but experience everlasting life. God did not send His Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it!”’ (TPT)
