Announcing the
winner of
"The Father's Heart"
Writing Contest
Judging the contest was found to be both a difficult, and a blessed task for our judges. It was difficult to choose only one out of so many beautifully written stories, and it was truly a blessing to read through the essays that reflected the heart of God in the lives of so many men.
Five judges were involved in the four level judging process. Those judges are:
- Darlene Schacht -
Author of The Mom Complex;
Founder and editor of CWO Magazine; Partner in ownership of Art Bookbindery--"Empowering Writer's to Self Publish."
- Heather Ivester -
Frequent book reviewer for Active Christian Media;
Monthly Columnist for CWO Magazine; Author of From a Daughter's Heart to Her Mom: 50 Reflections on Living Well
- Valerie Wolff -
Monthly columnist for CWO Magazine
- Michael Schacht -
Owner and General Manager of Art Bookbindery.
- Doug Humphreys -
Technical Editor; Production Manager at Art Bookbindery.
After finding so many father's that have affected the lives of women through active faith, it was a difficult process to narrow the entries down to one final choice, but we did. That winner is Sarah Lantrip of Missouri, USA, with her essay entitled, "Reflections of Our Father's Love."
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"Right from the moment I opened the story about Lindy "Dad" McGowan, I was in tears, as my spirit was so moved by this man's faithful loving spirit. I have read the story over and over, yet each time I can't get through a paragraph without tearing up."
- Darlene Schacht
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"While some of the other entries hit closer to home, I found Sarah Lantrip's essay on Linday "Dad" McGowan the most inspirational example of fatherly love."
- Doug Humphreys
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Each judge came to the table with varying reason's for choosing this one, but in the end, Heather Ivester's comments best summed up the choice--
"I'm blown away by Sarah's description of her foster parent.
Sarah's description of her father moved beyond her personal relationship with her foster dad and offers all of us readers inspiration to apply to our own homes as parents. Her dad took proactive measures to make sure each of his 4,000 (!) children inherited his legacy of faith.
I plan on jotting this quote down and hanging it up on my refrigerator!
“Remember to do three things to have a life blessed by God: stay in church, stay in the WORD, and stay on your knees.”
And look at how well Sarah's life turned out-- she was not a "casualty" of an orphanage-- she has taken her inherited faith and proactively chosen to bless the lives of others."
- Heather Ivester
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Without further ado, we present to you,
Sarah Lantrip's winning essay,
Reflections of
Our Father's Love
Sarah Lantrips, June 2006
The things that matter most to a child are a sense of belonging, love, and acceptance. I found all these things and much more at the Hope Children’s Home in Tampa, Florida.
Lindy, “Dad”, McGowan was the one who opened the door to a small, sickly, 18 month old little girl. Plenty of TLC went into bringing me back to health. What he gave to me was more than just a place to live with 36 brothers and sisters. Yes, he did provide me with food, clothes, and a bed; but he GAVE so much more. He provided the place that became my HOME, and he became my Dad. Dad and Mom McGowan would get up around 5 o’clock in the morning to spend time together in prayer and Bible reading.
When asked why he got up so early, he would smile and say: “Well, there’s not too many on the line with the Lord at that time and we can get our request in early.” So this is the heritage that was passed on to me.
Just like any other “normal” home, there were rules to follow and plenty of chores to be done. All those rules prepared me to have high standards for my life. Likewise, all the chores taught me that there is no shame in being called a hard worker. I can remember each evening gathering together for Bible reading and prayer. The verse that hung on our kitchen wall said: “But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Under this verse was a small bulletin board that we wrote down the things that we needed. Things like: laundry detergent, milk, meat, vegetables, socks, toothpaste, and more. Then we would pray for it. We didn’t go to the store, call anyone, or let anyone know what we needed. We just told our Heavenly Father. Then when the prayer was answered we would put a big check mark next to it and write the words: “Praise the Lord!” One time someone asked Dad, “Why does God answer those prayers?” Dad explained that many adults get up from their knees after praying and wonder if God even heard them. Children get up from their prayers and look for the answer. They have child like faith in their Heavenly Father that he will not only hear but answer their prayers. So I was taught to live a life of prayer and trust in my Heavenly Father. My faith was strengthened over and over as I saw God answer our prayers.
I heard recently that a heritage is what is passed on to you. Well, the greatest heritage that was given to me was the perfect love of my heavenly Father that went beyond my own deeds and personal family history. Dad taught me what the Bible says in Psalm 118:8, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” He wisely taught me that I should place my complete trust in only one person--Jesus Christ. He taught me that he would not be with me forever, but Jesus has promised that He will never leave me nor forsake me. What a great promise! To me the greatest Bible promise that Dad shared with me is found in Psalm 27:10. It says: “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” Even though my earthly mother and father had seemingly forsaken me, my heavenly Father has placed His loving arms around me and adopted me into His family. I learned about the love of my Heavenly Father through Dad’s words of wisdom, obedience to God, and a life lived to honor and glorify Jesus Christ.
In his life time he has been a dad to over 4,000 children, traveled all over the United States to different churches allowing us kids to sing and testify, and then he would share the blessings of God.
So what does an almost 80-year-old dad do now? Like Dad says, “No one should ever retire from God. What would our lives be like if God retired from us? We would all be in a mess!” Dad is still sharing the gospel, still preaching, visiting the sick in the hospital, and still giving love and advice to all his kids. I think a nugget of truth that tells the heart of Jesus is found in John 12:28; “Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Presently I, my husband, and our three children are working in Austria sharing the Gospel. I hope to continue this family-dedication of “Dad” McGowan to live a life as Jesus lived praying, “Father, glorify thy name.”
The last thing he would say to us all would be this:
“Remember to do three things to have a life blessed by God: stay in church, stay in the WORD, and stay on your knees.”
My name is Sarah Beth (King) Lantrip. I was placed in the Faith Children’s Home when I was 18 months old (1970), and stayed there till I finished college and was married in 1992. We went back to the children home and worked for a short time. We prepared for missions work by attending Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri--Austria is where God led us.
Our website is:
www.ateamonline.info
and the children’s home website is: www.hopechildrenshome.org
Sarah and family
Mom and Dad McGowan
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CWO would like to thank our sponsor:
Art Bookbindery
"Empowering Writer's to Self Publish"
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