A wonderful life, indeed

Thursday was my dad's birthday (51, but you didn't hear it from me). 

51 really isn't anything to write home about, you know. It's just a year over half a century. And you know, once you're at half a century it's like one more year until death. No longer is one working up to having it all, he is resigning himself to the fact that he wont. It's the resolution phase of life, where one has to decide how to retire from the glory years and make peace with how they were spent. It's like the chance to do something really big has passed and there's nothing to do about it. At least, that's how the pessimist sees it, and my Daddy is not one of those. 

No, instead my Dad chooses to focus on the good his average life has done. Not out of selfish glorification. Just personal reflection. He stays away from vain, woe is me language and chooses instead to focus on how his life has been gratifying. He focuses on the good and asks God to use it to outweigh the bad. He would rather see the impact he's had on people than the debt that has accumulated from med school to raising three children and supporting a wife. He's not a complainer, my dad. He spends his days offering advice to the parents of ailing children, and working to improve the system he works within. He sincerely enjoys knowing and helping people. He's a relationship builder. A truth-seeker. A whole hearted worshipper. Integrity-filled. He has cared enough to not only keep a vow to my mother, but remain her best friend. With tiffs here and there, yes. But best friend, nonetheless. He openly admits it is not a power of his own that has kept this family together--that it is God who has blessed us beyond measure. Who provides. Who gives the strength for us to love one another when we aren't even big fans of ourselves. Who leads, if it means away from each other. Who challenges us to serve, and says even at 51, with most of life behind you, no matter how bad the history looks, service is still possible. Dad's right, he hasn't had the power to get us where we are. But he has had the choice, as head of the household, of who to seek and serve. It is the greatest blessing I have that he has chosen Jesus Christ. 

And that on his 51st birthday he is anything but bitter. He's content with a small dinner at Luke and Stephanie's house. Maybe watch a movie or two together. A sincere card from each child. That's all he wants. But I have a mom as devoted to my dad as he is her, who can't pass up the opportunity to make his night as special as possible. 

For years It's a Wonderful Life has been my Dad's favorite movie. And for years, I have seen bits and pieces. Last year I fell asleep. The year before that we only sort of watched as we put up Christmas decorations. The year before that I was babysitting while he watched it by himself. All of this is to say that for all of the time I've known it's his favorite movie, I'd never once seen it all the way through or known the plotline beginning to end-- much less the moral of the story. Therefore, I've never known why it's my Dad's favorite. Well, Mom bought Dad and the rest of the family tickets to the Rep theatre special showing of It's a Wonderful Life for his birthday. Let's just say it's no necktie. And right after he found out we were going (it was a surprise) I told him I didn't even know really what it was about. His eyes lit up. There I was finally expressing interest in something so long important to him. And as he told me the story so intently, even tearing up when he reached the finale, I began to realize why the story, and it's protagonist George Bailey, mean so much to Dad. Because in many ways he is George Bailey. 

George is an important community member. He has a strong loyalty to his family--a loyalty that keeps him in the same town all his life. He does his best to make sure other people are taken care of. His patience is often tested by ordinary struggles. But when everything goes all wrong one Christmas Eve, he decides to go jump off the Bedford Falls bridge. He is met by an unlikely angel named Clarence, who takes the opportunity to show George what life would be like for the town if he had never lived. George is made to see how important his existence is, and finds a new desire to return to and live his ordinary life. 

Are there some things my dad would do differently if he could? Absolutely yes. Matter of a fact, he said the other day that most of his success has come because God chose to work in spite of Chris Smith. But I know Dad is sincere when he says he wouldn't give this life away for anything. It's a Wonderful Life reminds him of this every December. He has a chance to sympathize with George Bailey and also feel his joy in the end. Because if it's this life or nothing, he'll choose his life.