In recent memory, I don’t know if I have ever written anything of my father. My father, Rickey Gene Auxier, died over 10 years ago now. When we were thinking of what would go best on his headstone, I thought, “Found Faithful” was a Biblical direction that my father lived for. Here are a couple of things my father instilled in me (a couple non so spiritual, then a couple spiritual).
Sports – My father was quite a basketball player back in the day. Even from a young age, he instilled in me a love for baseball. I remember going to my first St. Louis Cardinal game and cheering for Lou (Brock).
Work Ethic – I well remember lessons about not quitting, working hard, and devoting myself to do my best as things that were consistenly passed on to me.
Love for God’s Word – My father fought a theological drift that existed, which failed to see God’s Word as infallible and inerrant. My father gave His life to this end. He was a theological conservative and his love for God’s Word was always central.
Love for Souls – My father was an evangelist. He had a passion to see people come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He would consistently be away at “revival meetings” and always be pressing the gospel upon people in his sermons. He wanted lost people to get it.
Love for the Church – I didn’t grow up resenting the local fellowship of believers we were consistently a part of. I grew up watching a man give himself for the betterment of other believers.
My father wasn’t perfect. He had mistakes. He sinned. But more than his sins and weaknesses, my father instilled in me a love for doing what is honorable and honoring God in the midst of it. For this, I praise God. God has exhibited grace again.