Father's Day 2019

I love my dad a lot. We’re pretty good buds. Sometimes if everyone is gone on a Friday night, he and I will go out and get some junky fast food like Taco Bell, and watch a movie, or do something else fun. I call that our “Bachelor Night.”

Some attributes that I find admirable about my father is that he’s:

-       Humble

-       Hard-working

-       Funny

-       Teacher

-       Strong

-       Gives service

-       Sacrifices

-       Is a good leader

-       Smart

-       Dependable

-       And a protector.

The attribute I admire the most, is the amount he has sacrificed to provide for our family. For the last 23 years my dad has worked so hard working as an antique restorer in a metal building with no A/C or heating in temperatures from a humid 100*F to a humid 30*F. (I understand 30 isn’t cold for Idaho, but again, I’m from Texas, and humid cold is cold, too). I don’t know if I would do that for my family. He worked 5½ days a week, only took a few days off a year, and missed a lot of road trips we went on, to make sure we had a comfortable life. Recently, my parents moved to Kansas, and my dad now has a cushy job at a hardware store. My dad is a good man.

Some things I wish he were better at is patience, gentleness, and I wish he would have supported daily family scripture and prayer. He was good about family home evening my whole life, until I started singles ward, then it dropped off, haha. My dad has definitely become better at being patient with all of us... Or us kids are all less annoying...

I would also like to say, that not only can Fathers teach their own children, but they can teach other children as well. There is an increasing trend of fathers not being a part of their children’s lives, and children NEED fathers. I know that I have learned from other men whom I have considered father-figures, things my own father couldn’t, or didn’t teach me. For all the children who don’t have good fathers, be good fathers to them.

My dad has been a father figure to a younger friend of mine who didn’t grow up with a father. When we were younger, that friend loved baseball, so my dad would play catch with him some evenings, or just talk about games and rankings and all of that. My dad would make sure that he got to young men’s and scouts and made sure he had fun. That guy got into trouble in high school, like big trouble, but whenever he was around, my dad would always ask him for help with yardwork, or hire him for odd jobs at work, and keep him busy. Recently, my friend told me that my dad was the only leader he liked in young men’s and scouts, and that’s why he stuck around with church for as long as he did.

I would like to invite you to think about things that your father does or has done that you admire. 

Men, do you do them? Start developing those attributes now in preparing to be a father.

Women, you need to stand up for good fathers and good men, tell the men you know who are doing good things, how you respect and admire them. Even if it’s just a simple “thank you for____.”

Good fathers are just as important as good mothers.

 

 My dad and I :) 

Feel free to comment things you like about your own father (or father figures), or things you wish to see in your own family.