Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Some prayers for my dad please

#21

Thank you all so much. My sisters and I spent a 3rd day among the ashes yesterday trying to find anything worth saving. There really isn’t very much left. We pulled out enough stuff to cover half of a small flat bed trailer, but even half of that will probably end up in the trash. The furniture that’s left is smoke/water damaged beyond saving.

The worst part of all of this is that he apparently didn’t have insurance. My mom used to handle all of the bills. It looks like that was something that just didn’t get renewed at some point years ago after mom got sick.

Greg, my dad’s name is Roger. I appreciate you taking the time to ask and make things more personal. A few of you even got to meet him at Ben’s last October.

Thank you to those praying for me, as well. I initially thought I was taking things well, but for 3 nights, when I lay my head on the pillow, all I see is that burned out hull. I’ve had various visions / nightmares multiple times per night. It’s so odd because I haven’t lived in that house since 1992. You’d think 30 years would be enough to detach me, but apparently I’m far more attached than I realized.

I wasn’t going to post this because it just feels like begging, but so many people have asked me if they could donate money for my dad. I’ve been overwhelmed with gratitude. I’ve been crying off and on all morning at the outpouring of love… often from people that have never or will never meet my dad. If you feel moved to help, my niece set up a GoFundMe page.

Needless to say, every penny will go to Dad.

Again, thank you all so much. I’m literally overwhelmed by the amount of love and support we’ve received from so many people.

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#22

It isn’t begging at all - thanks for posting. I hope your dad will be blessed with restoration and renewal far beyond what he lost, like Job. Prayers for strength for you and your sisters too!

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#23

The story of Job has been a constant thought in my mind these past few days. I just don’t want to see my dad sitting among the ashes scraping his boils. :stuck_out_tongue:

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#24

So sorry to hear about this, I can’t imagine what he’s feeling. I will certainly be praying for y’all.

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#25

Prayers are with you and your precious father.

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#26

Sorry to hear that. I’ll be praying for y’all

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#27

Y’all… the generosity of this group is humbling and mind blowing at the same time. I keep using the word “overwhelmed” today, but it’s the only one that seems fitting. I’ve shed so many tears of joy today over the donations my dad has received… and most of the donors have never even met him.

There are no words for the amount of gratitude I have for all of you. I’ve tried to keep an eye on the GoFundMe page and send personal messages to every name I know. If I somehow missed you, please PM me. It’s important that I thank you personally.

I’ve always said bluegrass people are the best people in the world. I stand by that statement. Thank you. :heart:

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#28

So sorry to hear of this loss to your father and to you and your family. You guys are in our prayers.

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#29

Devastating and heartbreaking for sure Mark. Man, so sorry hear about this tragedy. Know you have my support; wishing you and your family peace and comfort in the coming months ahead as you seek healing.
Butch B.

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#30

Great to see you back on the Forum @Butch

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#31

How’s your dad doing, @Mark_Rocka?

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#32

I’m assuming he is singing “I saw the light”! No more darkness. :slight_smile:

#33

It’s just one day at a time right now. I went back over there Friday and decided to do a deeper dive into the rubble of a couple of rooms that I thought others had gone over. I’m glad I did. I found some pretty sentimental things that he was glad to have back. The most amazing was my parents’ wedding album. I don’t know how it made it. The outside covers are burned off, but somehow the pictures inside seem no worse for wear. I found both of my sisters’ baby books, some pictures of my grandparents, some tools he thought he’d lost years ago, and some power tools in a room he didn’t remember having power tools in. Some of the plastic on the tools is a little warped, but amazingly, they still work.

Something I never thought about is the fact that the firefighters have to cause a lot of damage themselves looking for places where the fire may start up again. Basically, most of the places where the drywall is damaged is because the firefighters were looking for more flames. I understand the why, but it doesn’t make it any less painful that what they had to do destroyed more of his things.

We’ll probably go through the house one more time. After that, it’ll be time to take a bulldozer to it. Thanks to a lot of incredibly generous people like you, we’ve already raised $15k to help him rebuild. I’m also in the works to try to do a couple of local fund raisers with some musician friends if we can get our schedules aligned.

Thank you for asking about him, Libby. It means a lot to me that he’s being thought of.

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#34

He’s in all of our thoughts and prayers, pretty sure I can speak for everyone on this thread when I say that :grinning:

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#35

Been away for about a week; reading thru all the posts I’ve missed & just saw this…
Our thoughts and prayers for your Dad and the whole family :purple_heart:

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#36

You know what I’m thinking - The Great Speckled Bird, the True Church! Here is the song, listen and get on board! :slight_smile:

The Great Speckled Bird

Song by Roy Acuff

1.What a beautiful thought I am thinking
Concerning a great speckled bird
Remember her name is recorded
On the pages of God’s Holy Word.

  1. All the other birds are flocking 'round her
    And she is despised by the squad
    But the great speckled bird in the Bible
    Is one with the great church of God.

  2. All the other churches are against her
    They envy her glory and fame
    They hate her because she is chosen
    And has not denied Jesus’ name.

  3. Desiring to lower her standard
    They watch every move that she makes
    They long to find fault with her teachings
    But really they find no mistake.

  4. She is spreading her wings for a journey
    She’s going to leave by and by
    When the trumpet shall sound in the morning
    She’ll rise and go up in the sky.

  5. In the presence of all her despisers
    With a song never uttered before
    She will rise and be gone in a moment
    Till the great tribulation is o’er.

  6. I am glad I have learned of her meekness
    I am proud that my name is in the book
    For I want to be one never fearing
    The face of my Savior to look.

  7. When He cometh descending from heaven
    On the cloud that He writes in His Word
    I’ll be joyfully carried to meet Him
    On the wings of that great speckled bird.

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#37

@JohnM I don’t know why you keep bringing topics into this thread that are totally unrelated.

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#38

@Luke_L, thoughts for @Mark_Rocka’s dad and others… Sorry if I had not made the relevance clear.
@Mark_Rocka mentioned “one day at a time”. There is no need for that when can be carried along. Where you have onboarded is what really matters is what I wanted to convey!

Psalm 91:11,12
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

While the song “one day at a time” is more of a confession of a lost church, the song “the Great Speckled Bird” (those are not my words) is a pointer to the true church, is also what I wanted to convey!

#39

I gotta agree with Luke @JohnM, this thread was started by Mark to ask for prayer for his dad, who’s going through something very hard. It’d probably be best not to change the subject here.

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#41

I agree with @Luke_L

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