Father's Day

Father’s Day.

Today I give great thanks to my Father in Heaven and My father on earth. I have a wonderful life with a great wife and fantastic children. I feel very blessed.

I have a good job that I attribute to the work ethics that my Dad taught me. Not so much from what he said but from what he did. I remember when I was turning 16 and I asked my Dad if he was going to help me buy a car. He handed me a nickel and said “Work on it”. I got a job delivering newspapers for a guy that was going on vacation for a month. It was three different paper routes, and was very hard work in the middle of winter. I made a bunch of money, and as part of the deal, I got a car. It was a 1973 Cougar Xr7 with a 351 Cleveland engine. I paid for it all myself. My Dad did help me pay for my second and third cars, but that first one I earned on my own. It was a valuable lesson. I thank my Dad, who I now call Dadio for that and the countless other things that I have learned from him.

I thank my wife for allowing me to be a father. Ethan, my 6 year old, I adopted shortly after we got married. At first I was nervous about the awesome responsibility of it. I had no idea of the endless rewards. There are times when I am sitting in our house and he will come and climb up my back and sit on my head. To most people that would be a very strange thing. To us, it is a little like the baby monkey annoying its Dad by climbing on top of him. He is almost to big now to do that, but I will remember those times. I hope he does too.

Daniel, our 1.5 year old, is also a great joy. Sometimes when he is looking for me in the house, or he has just woken up and wants someone to come and get him out of bed, he yells as loud as he can “DA DA DA DA DA”, and when he finds me he grabs my legs and does not let go until I pick him up. He will put his head on my shoulder and completely relax his whole body. It is a complete trust and submission that I try to understand and use in my prayer life. On Fathers day, when I went to pick him up out of his crib, he relaxed his head on my shoulder, and then patted my back and shoulder with his hand. He was quietly saying Daddy, Daddy. It was a wonderful moment for me.

So, today I give thanks. Thanks for teaching me how to be a father. Thanks for allowing me to be a father. Thanks for appreciating me as a father. And thanks for the grace of giving me more joy than I will ever deserve.

Happy Fathers Day.

Here is me working with Ethan and Daniel.