My Dad Rocks!

(Yeah, I'm doing a spinoff from the sort-of weekly post about my husband, but I think it's appropriate to do so this grand Father's Day!)

So here are some reasons why my dad rocks!

~My dad is amazingly generous. He loves to give, and he does it well! And from the time that I was old enough to remember, he has taught me to give faithfully to God through tithes and offerings. But he doesn't just give financially.

~My dad loves having people in his home. Granted this is something that he and my mom do together, but if Daddy wasn't for it, this hospitality wouldn't have the flair that it often does (see above). My friends were always welcome in our home while I was growing up. All I had to do was say that someone was my friend, and they were accepted. And when I was in college, my friends and roommates were often included in family time because Dad understood that they were far from home, too, and needed some family away from family type of time. And then there's the annual ABF, which is just plan awesome; and the Christmas drop-ins, with all the yummy goodies.

~My dad has taught Sunday school at the church where I grew up since we began attending there. That would be 29 years. The class started as 4th-6th grade boys--a REALLY large class! And now it is only 6th grade boys, but Daddy works just as hard to teach them the truth of God's word. But Daddy also does more than just teach the class once a week. He makes sure that each week the boys get a special post card preparing them for the upcoming lesson; and who doesn't love to get personal mail! He takes them on outings like baseball games and basketball games and college wrestling matches--really good boy activities! There have even been occasions that I recall that he had some boys spend the night in order to go to a football game. From time to time Daddy will see one of his former Sunday school boys around town, and that now-man will often greet Daddy with great pleasure and tell whoever he is with, "this man was my Sunday school teacher!".

~My dad has great ideas! He can be really creative and think outside the box! (which is one of his favorite expressions as well)

~My dad supports and loves me, even when he doesn't really understand or perhaps even agree with my plans. For a long time I wanted to be a doctor and go to med school. Daddy was really excited about these possibilities. I then wanted to combine that dream with attending the Air Force Academy. I don't know that Daddy was particularly thrilled with this part of my plan, but he did a lot of research and contacted people through his amazing networking skills (another reason why he rocks!) and gave me opportunities to more intelligently evaluate my plan. He was very supportive, too when I changed my plans and decided to study counseling. I think it was a surprise to him, and we talked about it a lot, but he supported me and encouraged me to do well in my studies and then in my work.

~And my dad is a wonderful grandpa! He likes doing things with Isaiah, and he lets Isaiah help him with different things, like eating oreos or moving his sticky notes around or helping him remember information he's read.

~And perhaps most importantly, my dad loves God and wants to serve Him. He is willing to change his views when he learns from scripture a teaching of God that he formerly didn't know. I think that takes a lot of courage and humility.

I love you, Daddy! Happy Father's Day!