My Father

Almost everyone that goes to any type of college has to take a speech class. It was one of my favorite college classes because there was me and the entire baseball and basketball team. How this happened, I have no idea. Not meaning to generalize jocks here, but no matter how bad my speech was, compared to theirs, it was awesome! Talk about an easy A! Anyway, I was rummaging thru some old boxes the other day and I found all my speeches from that class. One  in particular caught my attention. It was the informative speech and I am going to share it with you. It was called My Father.

 

Battered, bruised, hurting, and broken, my father falls in the eyes of his friends. He failed in every way possible. With his work, with his goals, with his family, with his entire world, he has the illusion of failing. My father lost all of his dignity. Going ahead to greater things, and starting over, my father’s life was never the same. Through his trials and tribulations, he has taught me about being an adult, about my work ethic, and about my out look on life.

In the transition between being a teenager and being an adult, there is a fine line. It is a difficult time that a lot of people struggle with.My father has taught me over the years that being an adult is more than having responsiblity and a busy lifestyle. But, instead, it is about how you affect the lives of the people around you. In the end it does not matter how much money you have, or what kind of house you live in.  Those things will be forgotten, but your legacy, oh your legacy will live on forever. Part of that legacy will be your work ethic.

My father has and still is teaching me about a work ethic. His view of a work ethic is about not only improving your habits and managing your time, but it is also about bettering yourself. It is about trying to be who you are, but becoming better at it. He has told me many stories about his work ethic. It never matters what the story details because in all of them there is a certain medium. No matter how many times he failed at trying to do something or struggled to get past some temptation, he never gave up and he never changed who he was. He just learned from it and became more real. His outlook on life never changed.

His outlook on life was amazing. In the darkest times of his life, he kept on going.  He was always at a peace. And he was always putting other people before him. He has passed his outlook on life to me. I know that no matter how trivial my life may seem, if I will just keep pressing on, it will change. He has also taught me to not let the hard times take away from the people around me. He used to say that someone out there has it much harder than yourself.

Believe in me, and I will believe in you. That was one of my father’s greatest sayings. My father’s name is Jesus Christ. Everyone around him thought his life was a failure and was over when they saw him on the cross. He kept pressing on. Three days later, he arose from the dead, and started his life at the right hand of His father.  Waiting. Watching.  Encouraging.

 

And that was my speech. In a state funded college. All about Jesus. Don’t be afraid to share the gospel.

Live for God. There is nothing better.