On October 21, 2015, my father died. Well, he left this earthly life to go be with the Lord. Oh, he wasn’t my natural father, he was my stepfather. But, you never would’ve detected any such thing. True, we didn’t look alike in physical features at all but I’d like to think, perhaps, our hearts did. I think something like that happens when you are nurtured, purposefully grown. This man had tremendous influence on my life and heart. He was a teacher who taught my family well and upon us, he left his mark. I thought I’d take the opportunity on the first anniversary of his departure to tell you how he came into our lives. It’s a story that shows the love of God for a broken little family that lived on the edge of town.

Eddy Hupe was a great man of God. He was a faithful man who kept his word. In my post, “Where Was My Voice?” Part 1, on my beautifulcryinghelp.com website, I told you a bit about my mom struggling to care for 3 children on her own. She refused to date and bring men home as this would be too much of a risk to expose her children to. So, she traveled many years as a single parent. We didn’t realized at the ages of 9,11 & 12 how intensely lonely these years were for her. We also didn’t know the fear and worry she struggled with inside. That’s crystal clear to us now that we are all adults with our own children, of course. But, she carried the load of anxiety alone through those early years.

My mother was a woman of faith that knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was real. So, she turned to him in prayer pleading to Him to rescue us. As trouble began to mount in our home, she cried out all the more. God heard. God sent a fellow nurse. And so it began.

My mother met Lucy Hupe when she, herself, was working as a nurse. Lucy was a Christian who loved the Lord with all of her heart. As the friendship between my mother and Lucy grew, Lucy began to tell my mother about having a personal relationship with the Lord. I’ll tell you something funny…. One of the first things to get my mom’s attention was the fact that Lucy used to bring her watermelon “Jolly Ranchers”. I know, isn’t that hilarious? My mother loved them so it meant something so personal and caring to her that this friend would buy these for her. Seems so small of a thing, doesn’t it, but little can be so big when put into God’s hands! Lucy invited my mom to go to church and eventually, she went! It was there in a little church in Norwood, Mass.that my mom came to learn about the Love of God stretched out to us through the death of Jesus on the cross. Of course my mother knew about the cross….she brought us to church as kids…but she never really understood how the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus pertained to our every day lives in an impacting way. There, at “Full Gospel” under the ministry of Pastors W.J.and Mary Hankins, she heard and learned the good news of salvation offered to all who entrusted their lives to Jesus in faith. My mother knew this was God’s answer of prayer for the salvation and rescue of her life and the lives of her children so she made Jesus the Lord of her life and began again.

I was 13 at the time, already well into a downward spiral. I was glad my mom was going to church as it was clear to me that she was messed up. It also meant she was out of the house so we were at liberty to reek havoc. But that is another story that you will find on my website. Back to our focus…. My mother began to make friends and attend a weekly bible study at the home of Ed and Lucy Hupe. She loved it! They studied the Bible, prayed together, laughed, cried, ate food…. Yup, my mom grew and grew and we saw her changing! I remember one time when I was 14 yrs old bringing a 31 yr old man with me to the Bible study to see if maybe God approved of this relationship. They apparently didn’t think so. I was angry and thought them rude. Thank God for that “rude” group!! Wow…. My poor mom!

Ed and Lucy Hupe were my mother’s best friends. They saw her through so many, many difficult times. In the midst of it all, my mom still longed and prayed for a good father for her growing children. My sister and I had both left home and married when we got the news that Lucy had been diagnosed with Leukemia. Now, we had not only seen God miraculously answer prayer in others people’s lives but we ourselves had experienced powerful answers to prayer as we all came to know Jesus and saw Him work mightily in our own lives. God still heals today! But, God’s plan was not ours and Lucy went home to be with the One she loved more than life, itself. My mother was devastated as she experienced the loss of her best friend. She grieved terribly. My mom continued to learn to trust God, even in the darkest of times when understanding seemed beyond her reach. Ed Hupe continued to teach and care for those in the Bible study held in his family’s home. It was a dark valley for him as well but he had a strong faith and trust in the plan of God to carry him through grief.

As time went by Ed would call to check on my mom. They, too, were good friends. Over time, their relationship grew and deepened as they talked and prayed together. Seasons went by and they continued to talk. Then, when the time was appropriate, Ed asked my mother to marry him. He pledged to her that he would be a faithful husband who would not leave her, one who would be a father to her children. Never would anyone have guessed how God would weave together paths, lives and circumstances in such a way as to answer the prayer of a single mother who refused to let go of her hope in God for the restoration of her family. Psalm 68:6 says that God puts the lonely into families, then he puts families into clans for His good and Godly purposes. He grafts us in. Not just for those who are involved at the time, but for generations to come for the rescue of lives by the great love of God lavishly given through God coming in skin, Jesus. Perhaps my mom struggled with doubts as to whether her prayer would ever be answered but God was at work, even when His hand could not be seen.

Ed was faithful to his word right to the end. He gently stepped into our lives as a father and then continued to be ever present as a grandfather and great grandfather. There he was at every holiday, every celebration, every struggle and hardship, through sickness, trouble and on to victory. He was a quiet man but when he spoke, we all listened as he was wise. His life was marked by his faithfulness to those God entrusted to him in family, church, bible study, prison ministry, whether several or just a few. We all looked to him as he was a man of great faith as he was great friends with a great God. Ed walked through many other dark valleys in his life but his faith and trust in the goodness and faithfulness of God never wavered. How thankful I am to have this great legacy passed down to both myself and my children. Even now, the many, many prayers prayed daily by this man of God and my mother are seeds well planted in the ground of our hearts that will indeed, spring up in a rich, glorious harvest of robust faith filled lives lived out for the powerful purposes and good plans of God made possible through Jesus. The family of Eddy Hupe know it!

Does God see the lonely heart of a single woman struggling with the care for her children? Does he hear the cries of anxious hearts in the night time hours when sleep will not come? He does! This is why Jesus came! I can tell you this story, you see, because we were the broken family on the edge of town that became a home. God sent us a father so we would be able to see the Father! Because of this, our lives are changed.

“Missing you on this year’s anniversary, Ed! I will see you again!”

Eddy Hupe-April 17, 1923-October 21, 2015