All four of us kids want desperately to Honor our Father today. None of us are speakers with any ability whatsoever. That includes me. I speak, as best I can, for us all.
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Our Dad had principles that governed his life. One of them was “Work smarter, not harder.� He always did his thinking. He thought things through from beginning to end. Dad never rushed into anything. Right along with “work smarter, not harder� was “get a bigger hammer�—the right tool for the right job. And, boy, did he have the tools. But even so, Ivan Walker was the Master of Jerry-rigging. If all else failed, he would glue it, he would nail it, he would tape it, he would wire it, he would rubber band it—and whatever it was, the end result was that my Dad fixed it. When we started Home Video, the first thing Dad did was take a VCR home and tear it apart: and it wasn’t broken! He just wanted to see how it worked, so he could fix them when they wouldn’t. He was a carpenter, a mechanic, a repairman extraordinaire.
Dad had a strong sense of responsibility. He went to work, he paid his bills. His word was his bond: if he said he would do it, he did it. He was always busy and productive: working on cars, remodeling the house, fixing TVs, repairing washers and dryers and plumbing—Dad kept everything going. He always had at least two jobs, and upon retiring, he continued to work. The reason for this was simple: it was to fuel his next rule for living:
The Ivan Walker principle of “Work Hard, Play Hard.� It might just as well have been work hard, and play harder. He loved card games, dancing; he loved anything with an engine and wheels, particularly Volkswagens and motorcycles. Dad loved coaching baseball. And during a close game, when Dad was puffing hard on a pipe that had long since gone out, Deena and I knew it was the best possible time to stick our hands through the fence and wheedle another dime from him. He would be wound up for hours after a game. The cabin and house at Rock Creek Lake was a paradise for kids and grandkids alike. It was Dad who worked really hard to keep it that way. His work and his play often went hand in hand: he enjoyed both.
My dad never thought something couldn’t be done. He was optimistic, and always looked for ways to get things accomplished, big or small. It wasn’t just fixing things. Whatever our needs or mistakes, whether pregnant at sixteen or divorced at forty, he always figured a way to help, to make it better, to fix it. He was there for us. He would always say, “We’ll figure it out, Sis.� And he always did. None of us wanted to let Dad down, and we would often put off going to him with problems. But Dad would already be thinking, somehow he would know or suspect, and he would have some advice and concrete help.
My Dad was selfless. He loved us kids, each one of us, from the moment we were born. I remember when I was ten years old I just kept wearing out my shoes. In true Walker fashion, I would glue the soles back on, I would sew the toes back together, and this went on for months. Eventually Dad noticed. Maybe he wondered where all his glue was going! But he took me up to Brown’s Shoe Fit and bought me the sturdiest and most expensive pair of penny loafers money could buy. Back then, we were Sears Roebuck people; we couldn’t afford Brown’s. But Dad shopped at Brown’s that day, and it wasn’t for himself: it was for me. I’m certain Dad often went without, but the rest of us never did. We always had what we needed.
Dad faithfully took care of his widowed mother and his in-laws as they entered their last years. He loved his children. But above all he loved and adored his wife. Every single decision Dad made this last month was decided in terms of what was best for Mom. If you saw Dad that last week, you knew he didn’t have much energy left. But in the last days of his life, every ounce of strength he did have was reserved for Mom, to reach for her and give her a hug and a kiss when she arrived at the hospital. My Dad gave us kids the best possible gift: He loved our Mother.
Father’s day this year came just a few days before Dad was diagnosed with the cancer that took his life. None of us knew it would be his last Father’s Day, but I think we all tried to observe it a little more carefully. I couldn’t find a card that said what I wanted to say, so I made my own. It was a simple card, its back there on the table. I made it with big block letters so he could read it. I used a Bible text from Proverbs: “The glory of children are their fathers.� (Proverbs 17:6)
The Lord’s prayer begins, “Our Father, which art in Heaven.� Jesus calling God father is to point us to our earthly fathers to help us understand the nature of God. My father, while not perfect by any means, in the daily living out of his life, has shown me what God is like.
I have been in trouble with God on more than one occasion and have despaired of receiving His forgiveness until I realized that God is like my Dad. My Dad would simply say, “We’ll figure it out, Sis.� I have disappointed both heavenly and earthly father more than once, yet my father has embraced me and loved me still. Through my father I have seen and understood the father-heart of God, and that God’s love is even greater than that of my father.
I admit that I thought the verse on my card could only apply to Alice, Chuck, Deena and me. But the glory of children is their fathers is just the King James Bible way of saying, “My Dad is smarter, taller, faster, or whatever, than your Dad.� God planned it that way. So I would invite you to consider the blessing of God when you think of your own father. But I’ll still think, “My dad is more special than your dad.� And so will you: you will glory in your own father.
The bible says in Proverbs 13:22 that “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children.� Dad did not leave an inheritance of money. But we have been given something far more precious than silver or gold, of greater worth than lands or money. “Work smarter, not harder.� “Get a bigger hammer.� “Work Hard, Play Hard.� Optimism. Selflessness. Faithfulness. Love of Family. We’ve been given the The Really Big Things. We’ve been shown The Really Important Things. We have riches and wealth untold in this family.
I know there are four of us here that can affirm the biblical truth: we do glory in the fact that Ivan Walker is our father.
