Dad’s Close Call

Her father faced death and didn’t blink, says Tracey Arbuckle,, but he couldn’t look the local padre in the eye.

There’s nothing like a lifethreatening health scare to make a person realise what’s important in life. It happened to my parents when my father was diagnosed with cancer.

He noticed a lump, which at first didn’t worry him because it went away, but when it returned, Mum ordered him to see a doctor. The lump was found to be cancerous, so it was removed. Some four weeks of radiation treatment followed.

This caused Dad to start thinking about his life. Is this all life has to offer me? he asked himself. If so, then there must be Someone greater who has a plan for me.

My parents knew something was missing from their lives, but didn’t know just what. They believed God existed, but had little idea of who or what He was.

Mum tried to find the answer by attempting to read the Bible through, but she had a King James Version and found it difficult to understand the old-style English.

n My dad has always preferred a natural remedy if one was available, so he went to see a naturopath who told him he needed to eat more healthfully, suggesting, for example, that he take pork out of his diet.

When Dad’s mother heard about his need of a diet change, she also became interested. She happened to see an advertisement for vegetarian cooking lessons at a local church hall, so she decided to go.

During one visit, she noticed a copy of the Ten Commandments on the wall, which really impressed her and when she showed interest, she was invited to study the Bible with the church’s minister. She had begun attending the cooking classes and when the minister asked her if she was interested in studying the Bible (a free Bible was included), she accepted.

She couldn’t turn down anything free!

But Dad wasn’t interested; he assumed the minister wouldn’t have the answers he was looking for and needed. So he made sure he wasn’t home each time the min ister dropped in. Mum accepted most of what the minister explained from the Bible, but balked at what it said about the fourth commandment, Saturday being God’s Sabbath—His “official” day of rest.

Other churches keep Sunday, she reasoned, and if so many thought that was the right day, then it must be so. But as she studied further for herself, she concluded that Saturday was still to be observed as the day of worship.

Finally the minister got to Dad, who was “hiding” in the shed at the time. Up until then he hadn’t met the minister because he’d done a good job of keeping out of his way. But after meeting him and finding him to be a “nice guy,” Dad decided to hear him out. It was the start of my dad’s life—and mine, too—as a Christian.

So Dad began studying the Bible along with Mum and, although he remained sceptical, he saw no harm in learning what the Bible contained. But the gospel has a way of changing people’s lives, so it wasn’t surprising that some months later, together, my parents committed their lives to Christ and were baptised.

Soon Mum and Dad were involved in church life. Being involved changed my parents’ lives dramatically: their lifestyle became healthier—no longer did they drink or smoke and they stopped using the Lord’s name in vain.

They also found a contentment with life they hadn’t previously enjoyed and they handled their problems better with help of their new-found faith. Their priorities also changed, and they no longer took their health and life for granted.

Dad believes his close shave with cancer and the revelation of his mortality was, paradoxically, a “gift” from God. He says if it wasn’t for the cancer, he may never have found God.

As for me, my parents say that through being Christians, they became better parents. I know personally that my life and my sisters’ lives are much enriched as a result of their faith.

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