My Family

Some of my earliest memories are waking up when the house was still quiet, before the rest of the world even considered waking up, and seeing my dad sitting in his tan fabric Lazy Boy chair in the living room under the soft glow of a lamp. Next to him was a small end table with a cup of black coffee and my mom’s favorite doll, Sara. My mom kept that doll there because she was raising three boys and liked having at least one quiet female around the house.

In my dad’s hands was a worn, well-read King James Bible inside a black leather zipper case he had purchased years earlier from the First Bible Baptist Church bookstore. The case had a distinct three-sided zipper that made a sound you could always recognize. You could hear it when he opened his Bible in the morning, and you could hear that same zipper sound, in reverse, when the sermon was coming to a close. Long before the rest of the house woke up, my dad was already awake, reading his Bible and spending time with the Lord. God and ministry were always a priority in our home.

At the time, I did not think much about those quiet mornings. Looking back now, I realize they were teaching me what it meant to follow Jesus. Many of the most important lessons I learned growing up did not come from long lectures or formal teaching. They came from simply watching my dad live out his faith day in and day out.

At the same time, not everyone grew up in a home where they wanted to be like their dad. Some people learned lessons about what not to do as a parent. Others grew up without a dad at all and never had that example of leadership, sacrifice, and love that reflects our Heavenly Father. If that was your experience, my hope is that this devotional will still encourage you. God teaches us through His Word and through the lives of others, like my dad, and He is the perfect Father to those who did not have that example growing up.

This devotional is written from the perspective of a son learning from his dad. However, the lessons I learned from my dad are not limited to fathers and sons. The principles of work, discipline, integrity, generosity, faith, and family are important for both men and women. My hope is that anyone who reads these stories will see biblical truth in them and find encouragement to follow Jesus more faithfully.

My prayer is that the influence my dad, Rick Grape, had on multitudes of people will continue to multiply. While the lessons he taught could fill a lifetime of stories, this five-day devotional captures just a few of the many important “Lessons I learned from my dad.”

(Proverbs 1:7-9) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.