Nothing is Impossible

In the Sing His Praise hymnbook (copyright Prairie Bible Institute 1982), #99 is the song “Nothing is Impossible.” Yesterday, as our dear son Caleb was 99 days old (14 weeks & 7 = 98 days + 1 = 99) and we had the privilege of celebrating our first Father’s day with me as the dad, that phrase summarizes my reflection on the past three Father’s days.

On Father’s Day 2006, we celebrated with my mom & dad, Amanda, my sister Ruth, and Paul & Ruth and their children at P&R’s place with a bbq after church on Sunday morning. As we were leaving church, I saw Sarah three times and just couldn’t get up the nerve to invite her to our family’s Father’s Day celebration, even though I knew her parents were away for the weekend in Vernon, BC celebrating Father’s Day with her grandfather. Yet when I got to Paul & Ruth’s place, Ruth (my sister) said, “Oh I want to see Sarah’s new place before I head back to Edmonton today.” To make a really long sequence of events shorter, I told her I knew Sarah was at home by herself… I explained that a group of us singles had all been watching the Oilers Stanley Cup run together and that’s how I knew Sarah’s plans… and so my sister invited her to come join us for lunch and then went and saw Sarah’s new mobile home later in the afternoon. Just three days later we started dating… and of course in between those three days, mom Ibbotson’s suspicions were quickly building that “something was happening.”

Last year on Father’s Day (2007) we spent the day at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. We caught the train at 6:00 am from Delhi and arrived back at the Guest House we were staying in just before midnight. It was an incredible day and one of many highlights of our trip to India as part of our “honeymoon, part 2.” I remember suddenly realizing on the train ride back to Delhi… which seemed to take lot longer than the train ride in the morning out to Agra… how we had spent the previous year’s Father’s Day!

Yesterday, was my first Father's Day as a dad and we were here in Three Hills… with our dear son, Caleb John Ibbotson, who is 99 days old. Who could have imagined not only that the Lord would bless me with such an incredible wife who is beautiful beyond description, and then also bless us so quickly with such a precious, handsome, growing boy.

Truly, nothing is impossible when you put your trust in God!