Father's Day Thoughts

Today is Father's Day. I am so thankful that I have a husband who is such a great daddy to our two girls. As I type this, he is helping Hailey with an art project that she got for her birthday. It's supposed to be "easy, fast, and fun." It's a sand picture. You're supposed to peel off certain sections that you want to pour the sand on and then when you're done with that section, you just peel off another one and pour on a different color, etc. Well, the sections weren't cut through and the entire top layer was peeling off at the same time. So, he whipped out the exacto knife and has been slaving away cutting out each tiny section. What a guy!

I am also thankful today for my Dad. He taught my sisters and I so many things and has always been a tremendous example of love. When we were at church this morning, they played a video with a bunch of clips from different movies that were about fathers and their children, young and old. It got me thinking about my Dad and how much I miss him. It's been just over seven months since we moved from my home state of Washington to Virginia Beach. I know what the bible says about how a man is supposed to leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and vise-versa. But, I have to admit that sometimes it's not easy to be away from my mom and dad. We are a very close family and I always thought that we would live close to my parents and that my children would be able to grow up with them and learn from them. However, God had a different plan when he called us here. For the first four months I was miserable. I was depressed and I wanted to run back home. Even in spite of my bad attitude (that I didn't want to have), God was still blessing us. He knew that my heart was all for following in His will, but it was also torn between two different states. The cool thing about God is that he knows our hearts better than we do so, even though I had a bad attitude, he knew that I was just really sad and that I really was trying to change my attitude. I finally decided one day that I needed to get out of the funk I was in, and quick. So, I did. I prayed and asked God to help me be strong and to give me a joy deep inside about being here. I always had peace about being here, but I didn't have much joy. He answered my prayers. I started to really enjoy being here and now I love it! I miss my parents and my sisters so much, but I now have peace and joy about being here and it makes it so much easier to be away from them.

We get to go home for a week next month and I'm so excited! I can't wait to hug everyone and just hang out. No one makes me laugh like my family. We are nuts when we all get together. I love being able to be corny and silly with them. One thing I miss most of all are my long talks with my Dad. Some were serious, some not, but I always loved the fact that we could talk. I know some people don't have that kind of relationship with their dads and I know how truly blessed I am that I am one of the fortunate ones. My dad won the hearts of my sisters and I when he would make midnight runs to the grocery store for feminine products, run to the store at the last minute before a choir concert because we ran our nylons, and many more sacrifices that he made for us. I'm sure we will never know even half of the sacrifices he made for us. The reason I know that is because of the sacrifices I make for my kids each day. Being a parent has made me appreciate my parents so much more than I ever could before.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I am so grateful for the men in my life. They are true examples of love, honesty, loyalty, compassion, strength, goodness, and character. I pray that you will let the men in your lives know just how much they mean to you. Happy Father's Day everyone!