Oh, How I Love Jesus

When I think about my dad, Mike Sumstine, a few things come immediately to mind. I think about the “good old days” and how he always had a thermos full of hot coffee in his hand as he would head out the door in the morning. I think of how he seemed to have a never-ending bag of salty sunflower seeds in his pick-up truck and a well-worn tool belt around his waist. I think about how the smile on his face was almost always present and how his laugh still echos in my soul.

When I think about the later years of my dad’s life, I think about how he loved Jesus, the smell of biker-leathers and the deafening sound of his Harley Davidson roaring down the highway.

My dad was unique. He loved people. He worked hard for us as his family. The fruit of his labor came with his great sacrifice at times. Yet, he was so blessed – and lived with joy, contentment and to serve others with all his heart. He is greatly missed.

Today, March 9th 2022, my dad would have turned 72. Instead of celebrating here on earth, he is celebrating another birthday in heaven. My dad passed away at the young age of 57 and has since spent 15 birthdays in heaven. I wonder what that is like. My guess is…it’s incomparable.

In honor of my dad’s birthday, I wanted to share a favorite story of mine that my mom wrote about in her book called “God Write’s in Blue.” I think it is such an incredible legacy that my mom wrote down all their life-stories and had them published in her very own book. I hope you will check it out and grab yourselves a copy! Published in 2017, “God Write’s in Blue” will take you on a journey through hardship, surrender, love and loss. It shares struggles and triumphs that everyone can relate to.

My Dad has a remarkable salvation story. That story can also be found in my mom’s book on page 37, entitled “Story 5: Tired.” He gave his whole heart to Jesus and then one-step-at-a-time he grew in strength and godly character. The moment of his salvation changed him and I am thankful that the dad I knew was a kind and loving man who poured out his love for the Lord in his daily walk of life.

However, the story I am sharing today is about how my mom witnessed the song in my dad’s heart change overnight. It makes me cry every time I read it. I remember the song fondly.

One of my favorite memories (aside from my dad telling me he loved me everyday) was how he would burst out into this song without any prompting and sing, “Oh how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus because He first loved me.” I can still see the joyful spark in his eyes as he would start to sing. He would even sometimes do a little dance jig with it.

It was true. He did love Jesus! He loved Jesus so very much that eventually he answered the call into full-time ministry and went back into the outlaw biker world, that he was saved out of, to tell them all about his new Hope. He would often tell others,

“I know what it feels like to lay your head on your pillow at night and cry yourself sleep.”

He was relating to how he had felt when he was without Jesus and he knew these other lost souls were out there hurting just the same. He felt compelled to share The Hope with them.

Although, Oh How I Love Jesus was not the song he had always sung, (he had another favorite in the beginning) God changed it one night as he surrendered himself in a new way. From that night on, my dad would sing this song anywhere, anytime and no matter who was watching.

When I want to feel him close, I sing Oh How I Love Jesus. And as the tears form in my eyes and make their way down my cheeks, I imagine Him singing it in heaven along with me – as our voices pair together in worship of the one we both love.

With the permission of my Mom, I would like to share Story 12: The Song with you today.

From the book, “God Write’s in Blue” by Sherri Sumstine (Hall):

Story 12: The Song

“Mike’s Song” was sung over a 20-year period of our life together. The song is one I still love to hear because I connect it to Mike’s adventurous heart and soul. A song is composed of our heart–thoughts, and this one revealed Mike’s. I can still hear Mike’s voice singing it.

The song was What a Day for A Daydream, originally sung by Bobby Darin. “What a day for a daydream…What a day for a day-dreamin’ boy!”

At first, I believed this song was one of those catchy tunes that get embedded in your mind, and you find yourself humming its tune, or singing the words whether you want to or not. In all the times I heard Mike burst out with this song, he almost always sang just those first two lines.

But, not too far into our marriage, this song became my cue that Mike’s dreamin’-heart was about to take flight, and his imagination was creating a plan to make it happen. It would be my “heads up” that he was “cooking up” some deal. It was usually a plan to “make us rich.” The ideas rolling around in his head of a new project he was focusing on had a voice through this song,

I came to know the pattern.

Step One: The Song. It would begin. We would be walking from our car into a store or Mike could be coming out for a morning cup of coffee. It could be anywhere, anytime or any place, but if the words to the song rolled out of his mouth I knew what was coming!

Step Two: The Sway. His dreams were big, and he was going to persuade me to agree to give my blessing. I would wait for the sales pitch and the sweet talk that would make me want to shake my head and even sometimes to roll my eyes.

I was not a dreamer back then. I think that was something that I “caught” from him as the years spent with him meshed our hearts together. At least I like to believe it to be so. In those first moments, his ideas most always seemed impossible to me. But, somehow, someway he would convince me he could make them work.

He was a leader, a dream caster, and he always found those who believed and wanted to dream with him. I became one. What an adventurous life I had because of them!

Step Three: The Soar. Once I agreed to enter his dream world, his idea would set flight like a kite! He was on a high! A dreamer is never happier than when his dream is alive and in action.

I believe I heard The Song for the first time in the single-wide trailer where we lived when we first married. Mike took me to see that first little house he wanted to remodel. The Song was sung in the years that followed before he began every building project that ended in disaster. The Song continued to be sung when we moved out of my parents house and into the 34–foot Cimmaron travel trailer at the warehouse. Full circle, trailer to trailer, and many dreams later, God was about to let me witness him change not only The Song but also to give me a very special peek into Mike’s heart.

It was 1993, and we were in the early beginnings of entering full-time ministry. I will share more of this in the next story, but we were having a pretty hard time financially. There was barely enough money and never extra. At the time, we were both sick with bad colds, Mike more than me. I remember feeling so helpless that we didn’t have the money to buy him cough syrup to allow him to sleep.

We had gone to bed, and I laid there listening to him cough. I knew this was a testing time for us. The decision to enter full-time ministry was his, yet we were already struggling to pay our bills.

We had been lying there for a while, and I know he thought I was asleep. Then it happened. A hush filled our little bedroom as he began to worship and sing the song, “Oh How I Love Jesus” by Frederick Whitfield 

“Oh, How I love Jesus,

Oh, how I love Jesus, 

Oh, how I love Jesus because he first loved me.” 

He sang almost in a whisper, but I knew I was experiencing a holy moment between Mike and his Lord as he put his whole trust in God for himself, his family and the ministry he was being called to. 

From that night forward, The Song in Mike’s heart changed. Not that I never heard him sing, “What a Day for a Daydream” again; but never like I had all the times before. Now, just as he had with the old song, he would spontaneously burst out singing this new song at any given moment or random place! I had been allowed to witness the great exchange of the dream. Mike’s dream had been remarkably replaced with a vision, a vision for all people to love Jesus as he did. 

Now Mike was not scheming on his next dream job. God’s purpose through all the testing had been accomplished. Mike was ready for full-time ministry and to dream God’s dreams.The old dream song faded fast as this new bright, and joyful love song endearingly became “Mike’s Song.”

– God Write’s In Blue, by Sherri Sumstine (Hall)

My dad and his song-singing will forever be missed this side of heaven. However I am so grateful to God for changing my dad’s heart, the song he sung and for making him into the man we all loved so very much!

Happy Birthday, Dad! I am sure the sunflower seeds in heaven are amazing…but the worship extraordinary!

To listen to the song, “Oh, How I love Jesus” click here.

To purchase my mom’s book you can find it at World Wide Publishing or on Amazon. You can also visit my mom’s website and blog by clicking here.

Be Blessed, Friends!

~ Stephanie