My earliest memories of my father were when he took me to the construction site for Brooks Bible Church, the church he planted in Brooks, Maine. I must have been four at the time. I remember seeing my dad preach, but I don’t recall any particular sermon. I remember he admired John R. Rice and, when I was little, took me to a conference to meet him.
My dad was a hard-working man, a carpenter, a gospel preacher, and a church planter. He was also generous. He would give you the shirt off his back or anything else you needed. He liked meat and potatoes, so we ate a lot of potatoes when I was young.
Most of the memories I have of Dad after my eighth birthday are not pleasant. He suffered a mental breakdown that led him into cycles of depression and schizophrenia. When I was a teenager, my dad was suicidal and often abusive. He was in and out of jail and psychiatric hospitals.
My dad’s father, my grandfather, Pearl Hunt, became the man whom I admired and whose life I sought to emulate. Grandpa Pearl was born in 1919. I’m uncertain when he came to faith in Jesus Christ, but it was as a young man. My grandfather was a dairy farmer all of his working life. After returning from fighting in World War II, he returned to the farm on Siberia Road in Sherman Station, Maine, where he was a faithful member of Calvary Baptist Church. I have many fond memories of Grandpa Hunt, most of them on the farm. He was a hard-working man, up at 4 AM milking cows each day; in the summers, he was in the fields haying and preparing for the coming winter. I remember Grandpa sitting in his recliner with a worn open Bible in his lap. His example of faithfulness to Christ inspired me to do the same.
The greatest thing that my father bequeathed to me was his faith in Jesus Christ. He knew Christ and, in his normal moments, would speak of his faith. I learned many lessons about the gospel through dealing with the trauma and chaos that my dad brought to my life.
On this Father’s Day, I am grateful that God’s mercies are new for each generation, that through God’s kindness, the generation to come can follow the faith examples of their fathers while also learning from the failures.
I want to be a father who exemplifies humility, grace, and passion for Jesus to my children and grandchildren. Oh, for more grace!
Happy Father’s Day.
Zambia Hunt 
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