It’s amazing how little holidays like Father’s Day become more meaningful as you get older. As your kids get older you come to realize that they have a choice about whether they love you or not (unlike when they were small and totally dependent on you) and it “makes your day” when they decide to spend some time with you. On the other side you realize how important each week, month and year are with your father, knowing that all the love and wisdom he has given and continues to give will one day stop. Thanks Dad.
The most difficult part of this Father’s Day actually came the day before. On Saturday, the whole family went to Katie’s wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and Katie’s Uncle gave a very insightful message. At the reception, I was chatting with one of Becki’s cousins who has 3 small children when he asked “You’ve got a great family, your kids have all grown up so well, what’s the secret?” I was at a loss. Yes, I think I’ve got the greatest kids in the world, but Becki and I know they aren’t perfect and we know we didn’t do a perfect job raising them. I quipped “it was just luck I guess”, but he wouldn’t let the question go, he wasn’t just being polite, he really wanted some piece of wisdom to take home and apply to his kids. (Let me just say that Trisha and Jeff have great kids and Jeff’s profession is Christian counseling, so he’s got a much better handle on the parenting thing than I have.)
Continue reading “Father’s Day”