My Dad

I am thankful to God for my Dad. He worked hard to provide for his family. He worked offshore and so he was only home every other week. And we looked forward to it. He was faithful and loving to momma and they are still married. In fact it was 50 years this past December. He was a steady figure in our family, if that makes sense. He was even tempered. It surprised me the one time I saw him get angry. And that wasn't until after I was grown. And I don't blame him, I may have reacted the same way. In fact at around the 7th or 8th grade when you are trying to determine who you are, I saw this and heard how others talked about him and I decided I wanted to be like my Daddy. Of course as boys we want to be like that, but I remember making that conscious decision on the school bus one day. Why do I remember that, I don't know. I was trying to decide what to do for a living in high school and my dream had been to join the military and the time came to join and choose a career field. I had seen my dad help out a neighbor by going under their house and fixing a pipe. Guess what, I decided to become a plumber in the air force. My Dad has had a BIG impact on my life. And I am greatful for that, except the lack of hair he left me with. Of course that ran on both sides of the family. But I have a Heavenly Father who is greater and who I want to pattern my life after. As a father, neither me or my dad can come close to our Heavenly Father. But our children get their view of God from their earthly fathers. Oh, no pressure there huh? If we are abusive our children will see God as abusive. If we are loving they will see God as loving. If we are distant, they will see God as distant. And I could go on, and I hope you get the picture. Though we will never be Jesus, we are the picture of Christ to our families. Are we living up to that? Thank you Daddy for loving us and doing all you did for us. Thank you Father God for all you do for us. And thank you for giving me a Daddy who never left or was abusive.