Not All Heroes Wear Capes.

John:

To say that my sister and I were blessed to be raised by Philip and Carrie Hickman would be a massive understatement. Our parents taught us how to love Jesus with our whole hearts, to serve Him with joy, and to trust Him when life got difficult. Our childhood is full of memories of family vacations, camping trips, movie nights, and just random “laughing for no reason” moments around the dinner table. Looking back on it as an adult, I am amazed and grateful every day that God blessed us with such incredible parents who shaped us into the adults we are today.

When I was 20 years old, I heard a quote that absolutely rocked me to my core. At the time, I was living a life of complacency and stagnation in my faith, and I knew God was calling me to more, and to serve Him with my life. Then, one random Sunday, my father (and coincidentally my favorite Pastor) said “A faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted.” From the moment I heard those words, my entire approach to faith has been radically altered.

It’s one thing to hear my father speak those words from the pulpit. It’s another to see him live them out during the deepest of valleys. 

Over the last three years, my father has ever reaffirmed his heroism in my life. I have been able to witness his faith stay strong in the midst of a storm that would sink a lot of other Godly men. I have seen him praise the name of Jesus through tears of pain. I have heard him pray bold prayers of healing over my Mom based purely in an unwavering trust in what God can do. He continued to lead and shepherd his church when the world around him seemed to be crumbling. I have watched first-hand as my father has navigated the most difficult season of his life with a level of strength that I still find incomprehensible. 

That’s a good word to describe my father… strength.

It’s the strength that he demonstrated through this storm that gave my sister and I hope to continue trusting in the Lord when we did not feel like it. On those nights where doubt and anxiety wanted to take hold in our minds, his prayers of faith encouraged us. In the weeks and months following my Mom’s reunion with the Lord, seeing him unwavering in his faith reminded us that God is still good in the midst of our pain. The impact that his life has continued to have on ours cannot be adequately put into words.

Admittedly, if you were to ask my father what word characterizes his life over the last three years, I doubt “strength” would top his list. So, take it from the people who watched it the most and watched it the closest. 

Growing up, I always wanted to be just like my dad. Everything he did, I wanted to do. Everything he was, I wanted to be. He has always been the great example of faithfulness, joy, love, and faith that I strived for. I am grateful to say that, even now in my old age, I desire to be like my dad more than ever before. My father is my living example of unwavering faith. My father is the embodiment of strength. My dad is the demonstration of the Pastor, husband, father, and friend that I want to be.

My father is my hero. Now more than ever before.

Dad, I can’t even put to words how proud I am to be your son. Thank you for demonstrating unwavering faith, and for showing us all what it means to trust in Jesus with your whole heart. You are a shining example of strength to all who are privileged to know you. Thank you for encouraging me in the faith through the darkest of seasons for our family. I love you more than I can say, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for this next season of life.

Abby:

Most people just know my dad as a pastor. They know the sermons, the counseling, the leadership, and the way he loves people. What many don’t fully understand is the man he is when nobody else is watching.

On September 10, 2025, the Lord allowed him to walk through the greatest test of faith he has ever faced. While my brother and I lost our mom, he lost his wife, best friend, travel buddy, ministry partner, and the person he planned to spend the rest of his life with. I watched the strongest and bravest man I have ever known walk through a pain that I hope few people ever have to experience.

And yet, through it all, I never saw his faith waver.

No matter what the doctors said. No matter how discouraging the reports became. No matter how impossible the situation looked. He continued to trust the Lord.

Those last few days and moments we had with her will be etched in my memory forever. But what is just as deeply etched into my memory is what happened afterward.

When most people would have questioned God’s goodness, he continued proclaiming it.

I struggled to have faith through my mom’s sickness. There were days when fear, confusion, and heartbreak felt overwhelming. But I watched my dad spend countless hours by her bedside worshiping, praying, studying Scripture, and remaining confident in God’s plan even when he didn’t understand it. Watching him trust God in the darkest moments of his life taught me more about faith than any sermon ever could.

To watch him sit on the front row at his wife’s funeral and then turn around the very next day and preach about the goodness of God changed me forever. If anyone had a reason to be angry, it was him. If anyone had a reason to stop showing up, it was him.

But he didn’t.

Dad, thank you for being the example you’ve been to me, to our family, and to so many others. We prayed for a healing testimony, but God had different plans. In His wisdom, He chose to use our family’s story as a testimony of faithfulness that points people to Christ. Through the hardest season of our lives, you showed us what it looks like to trust God even when the answer isn’t the one we prayed for.

Thank you for showing us what faith looks like when it’s tested. Thank you for choosing worship when life gave you every reason not to. Thank you for continuing to point people to Jesus when your own heart was carrying unimaginable grief.

As difficult as this journey has been, I am so grateful that God chose you to be our dad. The Lord knew that when this season came, John and I would need someone who could lead us, support us, and point us back to Him every step of the way.

I love you more than words can express, and I could not be more proud to be your daughter. And I know Mom would be proud of you too.

Happy Father’s Day.