ABC's of May: D is for......

D is for……

Dads.

I have an awesome dad. (This picture is my dad holding me.)

My dad is the kind of dad that would do anything for me. He is the kind of guy that would do anything for anybody. He is a pastor, and he loves the Lord, but that is not the only reason he’s that way…... it’s just the way he is.

My dad is not the most patient person in the world; in fact, he can be pretty impatient at times. But, he has always been very patient with me. I can’t remember a time when he lost his temper with me. The only time I can remember him ever raising his voice at me was one time when I was 5 and we were pulling in the driveway at our house. I don’t remember where we went, but I remember that he had bought me a pack of gum. I was so excited about that pack of gum that I was in a hurry to show it to my mom, so I opened the car door before the car had come to a complete stop. (This was in the days before mandatory seatbelts.) I remember that my dad yelled at me and told me NEVER to touch the car door EVER again until the engine was turned off! I never did it again! My daddy yelling at me left an indelible mark on my memory, and that was a lesson I never forgot.

My dad has never spanked me. Oh, not that I’ve never gotten spanked, but it was always my mom that did the spanking. I think it was because I was a girl, because I do believe that dad spanked my brothers.

My dad is the kind of dad who is quick to hug, quick to listen, and slow to speak.

My dad loves animals and hunting and raising goats. My whole life I have never known a time when my dad didn’t have at least 1 dog, usually numerous dogs. He is very soft-hearted when it comes to animal too. The older he gets, the more soft-hearted he has become. He probably has 20 barn cats, but he is too soft-hearted to “do away” with the unwanted kittens when they come along. When my dove Indy died a couple of weeks ago, he was quick to comfort me and he understood how it is to lose an animal that I’ve had for a long time. Whenever we go away camping or on vacation, I can depend on my dad to be completely willing to come over and take care of my birds and my fish.

My dad has a great sense of humor. He gets the biggest kick out of his grandkids and all the funny things that kids say. I love to hear my dad laugh.

My dad is far from perfect, but he is the perfect dad for me.

My children are blessed to have a great dad too. Scott is not the most patient person either (must be a “man” thing). He does sometimes lose his temper with our kids, but he is such a good dad to them. He loves to show them bugs and other odd things. He taught Olivia how to catch toads and frogs. He teaches Travis new things about the computer all the time.

He is so smart and remembers the weirdest details about things and loves to pass these little “tidbits” along to the kids.

His greatest joy is to act silly and get the kids laughing…usually at the dinner table.

He has passed his love of Sci-fi and camping on to the kids.

Since he has been off work and is home with us all the time, he has taken an even more active role with the kids. He has taken over teaching them science and math. (Math because I detest it, and science because he likes it.) His being off work has really turned out to be a blessing in disguise because my children not only have a stay-at-home mom, but they have a stay-at-home dad too.

The greatest thing that Scott has done and is continuing to do is instill a love for the Lord into our kids. The greatest heritage that a man can have is to have children who grow up to love and serve our great and awesome God. This is something that my dad instilled in me and I pray that will be instilled in my children.

^{Exodus 20:12}

"Honor your father and your mother,

so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you."