Jessica & Steve

Stephen's Legacy

A Tribute to My Dad
By Jessica Phinney

In November I watched my Dad’s health decline to the point of being mere breaths away from meeting Jesus. Thankfully, God said, “I’m not finished with him yet”. I experienced a roller coaster of emotions and that got me thinking. Why do we pay tribute to the people we love the most after they’re gone from this earth? Wouldn’t I want the world to know the amazing person my father is, this side of heaven? That’s when I heard God say, “Write a tribute.” So I’m humbly asking you to join me as God writes through my fingers about a man I love with all my heart.

The first 20 years of my father’s life were not what you would call easy or ideal. As the 4th child in a military family, he spent his early years moving often and changing schools almost yearly. From the beginning, health issues brought close calls with death. His formative years held financial hardship, serious sibling rivalry, encounters in the world, and opposition from those who’s love he wanted the most. I often marvel at the work God did in redeeming my father’s heart when he came from so much pain. Part of that redemption came through a young woman who was raised with loving parents, God’s values, and a servant’s heart. That woman was my mother. She captured my father with her kindness in helping him find a job when they barely knew one another. (Her long brown hair and captivating smile helped a little too!). That job “happened to be” helping handicapped people in a residential facility where they were both cottage supervisors. This is the part where I get to say, “the rest is history”. They were married a year later on June 24, 1977.
Read More.