My Incredible Dad

I meant to post this on Father's Day, but it's been an interesting week with a lot of positives and negatives, and Sunday I was feeling just a little overwhelmed with everything.  We enjoyed Father's Day very much, our last day before James returned home, so I think all of our minds were elsewhere (Sorry Brent and Dad).  But I wanted to post about my dad.  A year or so ago I posted about my mom; then I stopped blogging pretty much altogether, so I had never gotten a post done about my dad.

I don't remember not being a daddy's girl, and it was so hard for me when my parents' divorced and I did not live with him anymore.  I loved my mom deeply, but I wanted to live with my dad, and it was so hard.  I felt like I had more in common with him.  My dad loved adventure, much like my mom, and I remember him introducing me to adventures when I was very young.  He introduced me to my love of horses, swimming, hiking, and other outdoor activities that I do not have enough time to participate in these days.  And in all of that, he taught me to get back up when I fell or to push harder when I was scared or tired.

My dad is also one of the calmest people I know.  He pretty much maintains he same calmness no matter what the situation.  I can remember a few times in my life when he got angry or emotional, but they are few and far between.  I definitely did not inherit this gene from him, though I wish I did.  I can remember as a teenager breaking rules or curfew and my dad hearing about it.  The way he calmly handled it puts my parenting to shame.  I wish I could say it made me change my behavior immediately, but it took some time.  However, his words and actions stick with me today.

My dad was/is loads of fun!  He was our pastor and youth pastor and when I was in junior high and high school, he directed our youth camp.  I loved that he was at camp with me.  It never occurred to me that most kids liked camp partly for the break it gave them away from family.  I was proud that my dad was there, and I was proud of how fun he made everything.  We had a little rural camp in Nebraska that did not have any of the fun perks that many camps have, not even a pool, but I didn't know any different.  I remember my first year in college when I went with Brent to his camp, which was on a beautiful college campus.  I was so disappointed.  No offense to the Tri-State District of the Wesleyan Church, but camp was blah!  When you have all the amenities, there is no need for creative, fun activities.  My dad planned huge scavenger hunts and other fun games.  We went tubing down the river, and just in general spent tons of time laughing and learning while doing simple activities.  It was a blast!

As an adult, my dad has provided great encouragement, and he continues to teach me all the time.  He's reminded me many times of how important it is to rely on God and to be obedient to Him, even when it is not easy.  He has given when he has not had much to give.  He has shown me unconditional love, and has shown the same to my husband and children.  Dad, I love you so much, and I thank God that you are the earthly dad that He chose for me!!

My Children's Teachers

It's the night before the last day of school for David and Sarah.  As I finished packaging up "Thank you" gifts for their teachers with accompanying notes, I was again reminded of what a blessing my children's teachers have been over the years, both here and in Oklahoma.  When we moved here, we made a decision to transition our kids not only from one state to another but from private school to public school.  We were a little nervous not knowing what the schools were like here or even what it was like to go to public school in the 2000s since James and Jason had been in private school.  We have not regretted the decision.  Almost every year I have had a sense of sadness over moving to a new teacher because we have grown so attached to the one we have.  Tonight was no different as I wrote the teacher notes.  It's especially hard with Sarah's teachers because I know there's no hope of having that teacher again since she's the youngest.  Sarah has had ALL the same teachers as David with the exception of Kindergarten.

This year she had Mrs. Heffernan.  We appreciate her energy and the fact that she likes to have fun.  She also appreciates art and has drawn out the creative side of Sarah this year.  It has been fun to hear Sarah tell stories about Mrs. Heffernan and write songs for and about her.  Everyone loves that Mrs. Heffernan has a great sense of humor.  What a great year it has been for Sarah!!!

David had Mrs. Hilliard.  We also LOVE her.  At his conference at the beginning of the year, she was teary talking about how much she loved David and loved how he loves Jesus and loves other people.  As Brent and I sat and listened to her we both got choked up.  It was so incredible to hear his teacher appreciating this part of his character.  She was a great motivator for David.  He worked hard to please her and met his goal of being on honor roll.  We saw a significant change in his work ethic both last year and this year, and I thank his teachers for this.

We've had so many other teachers in our lives who I could list, but I fear leaving someone out accidentally.  Teachers work so hard and they give so much to so many children.  I don't know how they do it.  I know I couldn't.  Thank you to all the teachers out there who have influenced me and my children.

Chris

Many years ago I was blessed with an incredible internship that led to a career I never expected, but more importantly to friends I never imagined.  One of those friends is Chris.

Because of all my moves when I was a child, I really didn't have many lifelong friends.  I have one friend from high school, who means the world to me, but who I have not seen in 19 years.  I have many  classmates who I am able to have regular contact with on Facebook, which is awesome!!!  And there are a few people out there who I knew as a young child, but not many.  Brent, on the other hand, only moved a couple times in his life, and he has friends from his childhood who he has regular contact with often.  When we were in our early married years, I found myself jealous of his friendships.  It was totally wrong of me, but a reality.  I felt cheated out of something in my childhood!

I have gotten over it, but a couple weeks ago I had a new revelation.  Our friends, the Luton's, came to visit.  I met Chris my first day at DHS in May of 1994, and I thought she was awesome!!!  I wanted to learn to be a social worker just like her.  She is a couple years older and had experience that I did not have.  We became friends quickly and I grew to like her as a friend, not just as a mentor in my job, and over time our husbands got to know each other and then her oldest son and Jason became friends.  And we both had our youngest two children close to the same time as each other, which was fun.  I miss their family so often, but when they were here, I really remembered just how much I miss them, and it was truly awesome to see all of our kids all grown up enjoying each other.  One night Chris and I went for a walk, and during that time, I realized that now that I'm over 40, I do have friends who I have known for at least half of my life, who really know me and with whom I share fun memories, memories even more significant than those I would have with friends from childhood . . . exciting, happy times, incredibly difficult times, and just funny stories.  It was great to reminisce and talk about how we have changed and what our future dreams are.  I am so thankful for the people God has put in my life, specifically tonight for Chris, Robert, Jake, Evie, and Henry.  I often talk about the strange way I fell upon my career, which I think has already been posted, but in thinking about that, it had not occurred to me how God provided me with such an amazing friend (and actually there are other people from DHS that have impacted my life in significant ways) through the stumbling upon of my internship.  What a blessing!!!