“Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, ‘Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live’.” Proverbs 4:1-4
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.” Psalm 103:13
My Dad – Wonderful Dad and Firefighter
Walk His Way Revisited
As a toddler and young girl, I was definitely a “daddy’s girl.” The first girlhood memory I have etched eternally in my mind is his coming home from his shift in his firefighter uniform—my strong, handsome, brave, funny dad. I have had a lifelong sense of pride telling people that my dad was a firefighter. The second girlhood memory I have is when I was a “Bluebird” in the young girls’ section of the Camp Fire Girls Association. I loved the “Father/Daughter Dinner” event we sponsored every year, because I didn’t have to share my Dad with my Mom or my siblings! I had him all to myself, his undivided attention for the whole evening!
My dad didn’t have an easy childhood. He was raised mostly by his mom, and they didn’t have much, but they had each other and she raised him to be a Christian man. He met and married my mom, and they had three children: my sister, then me, and my younger brother. We had a great family—we went to church, had fun family vacations (mostly camping), and our parents encouraged and supported us kids in our various interests in sports and dance. Going to church and believing in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit was first and foremost in our family, along with integrity (telling the truth), being a hard worker, not stealing, apologizing when wrong, listening and obeying adults, not talking back, and doing our best at anything and everything.
Like most teenagers, I became disobedient and rebellious with a mega-attitude, and my dad, in particular, had a very hard time with that. He hated my disrespect—not me, but my disrespect. I was on restriction often and given extra chores for my disobedience–dad and I didn’t have the best relationship in my high school years. Thankfully, in my early 20’s, after moving out on my own, I discovered my parents weren’t dumb and a pain in the neck after all, and we grew close again. I discovered the sheer wonderfulness and appreciation of loving, Christian parents and being raised in a loving Christian home as, over the years, I met people who had some real horror stories of their parents and childhood.
I am a lot like my dad–healthy, strong, fun, outspoken, with the same curly hair and eye color, and I have his zany sense of humor. Sadly, I also inherited his anger problem and temper, with lack of patience and self-control. My dad is now 91, and has lived in a senior memory care home the past two years. My sister and I are very hands-on, loving daughters, overseeing his care and visiting him constantly until the Lord promotes him to heaven. Sometimes I look at him and I don’t see the debilitated man in mind and body, who sometimes knows us and sometimes does not. Instead, I see that strong, handsome, brave, funny firefighter who loved his family and was always there for them.
Happy Father’s Day. I love you, Dad!
“Lord, help us to see our earthly fathers as You do. Amen.”