Too Many Reasons

Yesterday was Father’s Day. It’s hard to miss when you are on social media, it’s hard to miss when you have a dad you love, or a husband who is a great dad. It’s hard to miss when you had a dad that was great but was pulled up to Heaven a little to early for your heart.

Dad’s play such an important role in their kids lives. They are the sole owners of the “dad jokes”, and they tend to always want to step in a fix whatever needs fixing. Over this last week I was reading this book about a boy who ended up in a foster home at a very young age. He would was first put into a boys home and then later into different foster homes. Eventually after a few attempts at getting adopted, he ended up in a foster home that ended up his forever home. This boy eventually became a man who became a journalist. As time went on he ended up writing a story about another boy who was abandoned, and who had dealt with abuse before being found and placed in the same home the journalist had grown up in. The little boy’s story was important but was woven into what ended up being the main story which focused on the ultimate power of a father’s love.

A father’s love can be as simple as teaching his child to ride a bike, and as complex as standing back to see what life decisions his child will make. Yesterday my kids celebrated their dad with cards, Diet Coke and Mint Mentos. It is a tradition now to make diet coke eruptions to let Tim know how much of a blast he is. Every day he shows up, our kids know they are loved, they are taught valuable lessons, some ending in moving large wood rounds from the back of the yard to the front of the yard (let’s just say, you don’t want to get caught mouthing off or lying). He has found what they are interested in and has made sure they can have the opportunity to get better at whatever it is. This ranges from finding the right bow and arrow set for Leah, letting Tabby use his laptop all day so that she can digitally create drawings, and has been to every one of Tyler’s soccer games. It’s not always easy being a dad. Sometimes tempers fly and there just isn’t enough time in the day to get all of the projects done, but when all is said and done our kids know they are loved.

If God can make light come out of a bug’s butt, don’t you think he made you just the way he wanted? Unc, one of the main characters in the book I read was full of one liners like this. Most didn’t make sense at first but then when you read further and got into the context of the story they made perfect sense. Growing up I knew I was loved by my dad, and I know I am still. He has become a grandpa now and every time he is with his grandkids he spends as much time as he can with them. I knew growing up I was loved and that God had made me the way I am for a reason. I didn’t know how much I was truly loved until I saw the way my dad was with my kids. I guess it comes down to the fact that while I was a kid I just knew he was always there, he was a staple in my life. Now that I am grown, married and have three kids, I see how he lights up when he is around them. I have a feeling that my kids will see their dad in the same way. He is and has always been there for them, so he is a staple in their lives. I don’t think they really see who he is really, but they will. They will when he is rocking one of their kids, or teaching them to do something fun.

Yesterday we celebrated Tim being a dad. I wish everyone had a dad to celebrate, and love, but I know that can’t always be the case. I am who I am for so many reasons but one of the biggest reasons is because my dad decided to be there, he decided to show up and teach us how to be decent human beings. He taught be the value of hard work and to have integrity. He wasn’t always a rough and tumble kind of dad, but I have so many wonderful memories hiking and camping, and playing without a care in the world because my dad was there as a solid foundation in which I could jump from. I know that Tim is that for our kids. He is a lot more rough and tumble, he will do his best to get a rise out of the kids, but when all is said and done he is a dad who really loves his kids.

Dad’s may not always be dads biologically. They may be grandpas, uncles, step dads, leaders in a church. When a man makes a choice to help raise a child he is taking on one of the most important jobs in the world, even Christ said “let the children come to me” We should celebrate our dads, and father figures more than just once a a year, heck we should celebrate our moms an mother figures more too. Take the time to reach out to your dad to thank them for helping you become who you are. I know I need to do this more than once a year, so while I still have more to say, you get my point, so why not do what I am going to do and schedule in times onto my calendar to call my dad more. Until next time:

“The bloom doesn’t come from up here”-he brushed away some crushed bark and loose dirt from around the roots-“it comes out of here”. He held the orange clay pot in both hands. “Care for the roots, and the flower will bloom all on it’s own.”

Excerpt from the book Chasing Fireflies by Charles Martin