Fathers day… first and 29th

Today is my very first father’s day as a Dad but also my 29^th with my dad. 
So to honor this day of being a father and of having a father I would love to share 29 lessons learned with my dad that I might possibly one day share with my own son. 

So in no particular order, and there’s many more lessons to share, these are just the first ones to come to mind:

1 - Always Play! Dad would grab my sleeping bag while I was in it and sling me around and around, It was such a silly thing but I loved it! I felt like my dad was a super hero and super spontaneous, you never knew when the fun would hit. 

2 - Don’t avoid, meet. Instead of us avoiding the “crazy-lady-who-lives-in-a-school-bus-by-the-river” Dad became her friend and she became mine. Don’t get me wrong, the lady was different then most but I learned more from her then I did most people. 

3 - Model Learning. Dad has a love of learning that I find rare. He modeled reading veraciously, learning continually, and always asking questions, lots and lots of questions. 

4 - Invite your kids into projects. Dad was always starting something new. Let’s build a barn, turn a hot tub into a fish pond, use telephone poles to craft a pagoda. We didn’t know what we were often doing, but we’d figure it out together.  

5 - Go some where new. Different countries, the backroad you’ve never been down, that restaurant or the long way somewhere. Dad loved getting out of life’s ruts and seeing what’s around.  

6 - Work hard. We have spent hundred of hours sweating together, muscles aching, pushing through the point of everything in you wanting to stop. I hated it then, but its silly how much those lessons apply now.  

7 - Take time off. Dad worked hard, but he also stopped.

8 - Whatever your kids are into, do your best to be into it as well. Even if it’s the very thing you hate doing. 

9 - Give loans not money. Dad has been gracious in helping Pearl and I start life together, but he also has held us accountable. 

10 - Create time to be together. Dad owned his own pharmacy while I was at home. He created ways for us to be together even if he had to be at the store. So it might be breakfast before school or a hidden Nintendo under the counter. 

11 - Make business time family time. As I said Dad had his own store, but instead of being away from us he turned business trips into family trips. He’d sneak away in the morning but explore with us in the afternoon. Best business expense ever!

12 - Be different. Dad has always been a hippy, literally and also in his heart. So perm your hair, lay down at the lincoln monument, buy a yellow jeep. Be Different, be you. 

13 - Buy an old car. My first car was a beater, but it was amazing and I deeply miss it (oh the dream to buy it back!). The reason I loved it was not only because it was my first car but it was a father-son project we spent hours together on. 

14 - Go to late night movies. When I was in college dad would call me up and spontaneously say “meet me at the movies.”

15 - Say the hard things. Dad has a way of knowing what needs to be said, even if it’s hard. He’d say it, I’d be angry, but then I’d know he was right. 

16 - Hold accountable. If I broke the rules, Dad would break me.

17 - Model forgiveness. Dad’s been hurt by people in his life, but instead of modeling bitterness, he modeled forgiveness. 

18 - Be willing to start something. Whether it’s a food panty, a business, a second degree, a project, a family, something just start. 

19 - Take risk. Dad not only started stuff, he risked stuff. He started a business, sold a business, moved, traveled, spoke up, lead…. All very risky 

20 - Serve others. Dad started a “honey-do” group with our church to help elderly / single ladies who didn’t have a “Honey to do” their chores. He served them, the community, people he liked, people he didn’t, nice people, mean people… you get the point. 

21 - Take vacations. Stay-cation, go-cation, just take time to get away from the normal and be a family. 

 

22 - Kids home, you’re home. When I come home now, Dad stops everything to be with me. When we’re home, he’s home. He shows his love by clearing his schedule. 

23 - Be willing to change… even if your angry. Not to boost or anything but I was an awesome kid, sort of, but there was times I really made dad mad and rightfully so (aka, peeing in the vent, wrecking his car, getting speeding tickets). I knew what the punishment should be, he knew I knew, but he showed grace and changed his mind and spared my life. 

24 - It’s ok to screw up. Dad is pretty awesome, he was a great dad growing up, but he made mistakes, but that’s cool, I still love him. I will make mistakes with Zi, but it’s ok, I don’t have to freak out about it, he’ll more then likely love me to. 

25 - Never give up on your marriage. Mom and dad have been married for like forever (haha, I just called them old!) They’ve had lots of sweet times, but also some really tough times. Tough times that most would bail out in. But they stuck it out, they never gave up. 

26 - The world is too big to stay in one place. Go see what you haven’t. 

27 - Tell stories and value the past. I love hearing his stories, stories of who he is, what he’s done, his great moments and his not so great. 

28 - Follow Jesus, even when you can’t explain why. Yeah, exactly that. 

29 - Love. Dad has always loved us kids, loved our mom, loved our family, our God, our community, our lives. 

Dad, thanks for 29 great years, you truly are one of the worlds best dads. 

Love ya.