Father's Day: Celebrating Life and Legacy

It's been quite a while since I blogged - perhaps 2 years. I am not too sure. 

Today I felt the need to write something brief on Father's Day before the clock struck midnight. 

I really missed my old man (fondly referred to as papa) today. When one has a good father, and then death snatches him away, there is always a gnawing emptiness in one's heart. There are so many things that have happened over the past three years since the passing on of my dad and sometimes I wish he was here to witness. However, I do realize that there are times and seasons for everything and that papa played his part while he lived here on earth. 

On this Father's day, I want to celebrate papa's life, and to thank God for having given me the gift of a father. A father who loved us and made sacrifices so that we could have the best of everything. I want to thank God tonight for having given me a father who loved me so much that discipline was an expression of this love. I want to thank God for giving me a father who never gave up on me, even when most people around me had given up. I want to thank God for giving me a father who listened. He would sit very still and listen to my thoughts, my opinions, before he would respond. My dad made me feel special. He celebrated each of my life achievements and made me know that I made him proud. Was he a saint? Nope. However, I'd rather celebrate the life of a man who meant the world to me, who gave me a sense of security, and who was willing to make sacrifices in order to ensure that my dreams are fulfilled. 

On this Father's day, I want to celebrate the legacy papa left behind. I have inherited a legacy of faith, hope and love, reflected in papa's relationship with us as members of his family, and the community. Words fail me when I think about how much he poured himself into lives, both young and old. 

I am hoping that on this Father's day, as I reflect on the life and legacy of my dad, I will rise up and be the daughter that he dreamed I would be. Before me lie so many uncharted waters, so much unconquered land, so many un-scaled walls and while I may not necessarily accomplish all that I have set out to do, today marks the beginning of living a life that reflects the rich life and legacy passed onto me as my father's daughter. It seems as if I have experienced a turning point today, specially so, on Father's day, 3 years after his demise. 

I have been in limbo, waiting, transitioning, and finally today, I feel as though I have crossed over into that which the Lord has been preparing me for all the years gone past, through living life as the daughter of one Mr. Joseph Martin Okumu Simiyu. 

As I let go of the past, and hinge my life on the life and legacy entrusted to me, I sincerely hope that on my death bed I will have no regrets whatsoever. Most importantly, I do hope that at the end of my life's journey, I will hear the sweet words of my Savior telling me, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

This is what I want to live for as I begin this next phase of my destiny: Life and Legacy.