Today is my wonderful dad's birthday. His name is Jeff Gore and he is a home missionary to rural and ranching families all over Texas and the whole Western United States. When I talk about traveling all the time when I was little it is because we were on the road with my dad. Sometimes he was preaching, often he was singing, but mostly we were sharing life as a family with people who had little or no access to church, or who had been told that they weren't welcome there. We would do revivals at small rural churches where the congregation was prone to forget that each of them was ministers to those in their community who needed Christ. We built relationships over the years with Cowboy (read folk not country) singers and poets and Cowboy Poetry Gatherings. We set up hospitality stations, prayed, led the national anthem, and the early Sunday church service at Ranch Rodeos (which by the way are much more interesting and authentic than any PRCA rodeo you've been to.) My sister and I are who we are because we grew up in a home where ministering to people's needs-needs of all sorts- was what you gave your life to. It wasn't a mission project, it was who our family was. My dad never set out to be a preacher or pastor, but there are people all over this country who live 100 miles from a church, and they call him when they need prayer, when they need someone to perform a wedding or a funeral, when they need someone to visit a family member in the hospital. Many times my dad would get discouraged at how hard things were, and pray and ask God if we were doing the right thing, and someone would come out of no where just to say, the way you live your life showed me Christ and changed my life.
That's my dad. Happy Birthday! I love you.
1 comment:
Happy Birthday! We have tons of wonderful memories growing up. You were a stinker!!! You have been a blessing to so many people in so many different arenas of life. Only you could have touched the lives of the people that have crossed your path in such a memorable way. You are genuine, honest, loving and down to earth. You tell it like it is. I love that. You have been my strengh. We have laughed, cried, talked, shared and leaned on each other for as long as I can remember. You were tough with my girls when they needed it most. They believed you!! I always knew you were just a phone call away. When the families get together, it's like we had never been apart. Jeff, you are my rock, my strength, my compass. Addie, you are so very fortunate to have had him as a father. He does love his family. Thanks so much for sharing him with me. I love him more than you will ever know. Love you...Maricia, cousin
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