To my Dad

Dear Dad,

I’m a little late to actually hit Father’s Day, but I hope that’s okay. And this little note certainly won’t be as entertaining as the wonderful video clip Jenny and Caleb posted on Facebook. I could never be that hilariously creative…and maybe that’s a good thing.

But the video clip and other things in my life recently have reminded me just how much you have taught me. I confess I don’t use a leveler to ensure my lawn in properly cut (the one lawn I had to upkeep in Texas would have been a waste of time trying to level – I was busy trying to not get the mower stuck in deep cracks in the earth, which I’m pretty sure drop all the way to China). I’m not very good with the Lysol either, but perhaps that’s because we don’t get sick much.

On the other hand, I do know how to drive a stick-shift car (which is more than Caleb or Jenny could say). And I know how to move (a lesson, perhaps, that was not intentional but has served me very well over my lifetime). I know how to use tools, generally, and I am pretty good with duct tape. I certainly know how to wash and wax a car, mop a floor and clean a bathroom (with a toothbrush, which I confess I don’t use – although Emry does, if only it wasn’t the one she just had in her mouth…). And I can make socks smile.

Of all the lessons I’m sure you have taught me in my life (Go Navy – Beat Army!, tossing napkins in trash cans from the kitchen table, catching grapes in your mouth), there are two that stand out.

First, God’s Word. I hope I am as diligent to teach Emry Scripture as you were to teach me. About the time she will start chattering and memorizing, I will have number two to juggle so we’ll see how that goes. But if she can hide Psalm 23 and John 3:16 in her heart from the time she is two until she is thirty-something, I know she will never forget.

Second is managing money. It’s a lesson I take for granted, but just last week I was talking to a friend who is an accountant by trade, trying to put a workable budget in place in her family. One would think someone who managed money for a living (before having 2 boys, going on three) would have the best budget in the world in her own life, but I have realized that managing money is not something most people understand (which is lucky for Dave Ramsey). But I don’t think I will ever forget being given my first allowance and told how to budget my little (but HUGE) dollar: 10% to God, 10% to savings, 80% towards something I really want. It doesn’t take a genius to know that a paycheck and adulthood expenses are a little more complicated than a 9-year-old’s dollar, but the foundation of managing is the same. And I thank you for that foundation.

As I watch Emry interact with Ed, I realize how important a dad is in a little girl’s life. She watches her papa all the time, waits anxiously for him to come home from work and asks “Papa?” every time a car drives down the alleyway. She soaks in the lessons he teaches her from how to hold her fork to how to use a hex key to making silly noises with her sippy cup. Even a game of chase is much more fun with Papa than Mama. Watching them makes me even more grateful for you, my Dad.

Happy (belated) Father’s Day!