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This is a tribute to my dad. I know it won't fit all dads, but I haven't experienced all dads. This is my experience of a dad, and I wanted to share it with you.
What is a Dad?
A dad is someone who loves your mother. Their love blossoms and grows to produce fruit, and you are born. Then, they are so pleased with the results that they give you sisters.
A dad is someone who reads to you when you’re a baby, and when you are a child, and who gives you provocative books when you are a teen, giving you a love for books and for thinking.
A dad is someone who works hard to provide for your needs. He provides for your wants, too. He brings you presents when he comes home from business trips. He stays up late on Christmas Eve to make sure your dreams come true. And, when you ask for more, he reaches for his wallet saying, “When it’s gone, it’s gone.”
A dad is someone who doesn’t want you to grow up to be an oddball, but who is willing to risk it to obey God. His obedience is a perfect model. He takes you on special outings, like on a cruise to a foreign home. His good choices change your life in glorious ways.
A dad is someone who makes sure that the background music in your life is beautiful. He brings you classical music and orchestral show tunes, and he makes sure each room in the house is filled with delightful music.
A dad is someone who willingly puts up with your teenage mood-swings. He cares enough to discipline you creatively. He dances a jig to celebrate your joys. He is there with an encouraging hug in your sorrows. He prays for you every day. When he is away, he brightens your day with humorous e-mails. It reminds you that he loves to laugh, even at his own jokes.
A dad is someone who tells you stories so you’ll know where you came from and where you are going. His best stories are God stories, and he tells them often and in many memorable ways so you won’t forget, and so you’ll remember to pass them on.
A dad is someone who loves you.
4 comments:
I'm glad that you have such a wonderful dad because that means I have a wonderful grand-dad. Some of the things I treasure most are things you passed on to me because he taught them to you. Hooray for family legacy!
Wonderful, Jama! I can see your dad so clearly all through this.
I think that family legacy has been conveyed on our side of the family, too! At least I hope so. . . :-)
We are indeed rich in treasures that really count!
Thinking about it, I first felt called to missions very young. But in college, I chose not to answer the call because missionary kids there were kind of oddballs and I didn't want my children to be oddballs. (And none of my children are oddballs.)
The end of the story: I became a missionary with a decision that I would not neglect my children. So we had good times and good discussions around our short-legged table which you now possess.
That table is very special to me. It has many memories about things we shared.
Results, when you went to Carson Newman, you may have felt strange in American culture, but you had something that your classmates may not have had. You shared what you had and you and your classmates matured together.
Bottomline: A part of me went with you. I am so proud of what our mission together gave you and me in this great big world we live in.
God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.
Love you, Daddy Jim
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