I know it is a couple of days late but I wanted to tell you a little bit more about how I feel about you, Dad. I know we talked on Father’s Day and I told you how great of a father you were but I wanted to write and tell you a little more.
Dad I believe this quote says it all, "My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it". I remember when people always used to say, “you look so much like your dad”, “you sound just like your dad”, “you remind me so much of your dad when he was your age”. All of these quotes used to make me squirm. I didn’t want to look, sound, or be like my dad; you were old!! Hahaha! I didn’t realize it then but I do now.
If I only have one wish now it is to be just like you Dad because you are just like our Father. You didn’t tell me what to do growing up but you lived out how you wanted me to live. You showed me the way. You walked the talk. I can think of a lot of great memories we had while I was growing up. I will never forget you teaching me how to fish. I will never forget the time at Lake Eufaula when I caught that big bass right next to the camper. All I remember you saying is just keep on casting and maybe he will bite. What was the likelihood of me catching that fish? He could see everything I did. There was no way that he was going to bite. You could have told me that, but you didn’t. And because you didn’t, I kept throwing until he finally took the bait. I remember all the time you spent throwing with me in the backyard. All the waffle balls you threw so I could hit. I remember all the times that I was down after a game, but you would explain that it was just a game. In all actuality that game didn’t mean anything. It was the way I played the game. It was the way I represented Christ to the players and the fans. I remember so many things and I remember you showing me how to be a man. A man that wasn’t afraid to express his feelings. A man that wasn’t afraid to say when he was wrong. A man that walked and talked the way Christ would have. I remember all of those things growing up. I never really knew how much I was watching the way you lived until now.
The thing I am thankful for the most is the way that you showed me how to love my wife. Ephesians 5:25-31 says “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”
Dad you showed me how to love a woman the way Christ loves the church. You showed me how to be unselfish, caring, loving, and grateful. You love mom so much, and I saw that, and it made me understand that she was a part of you and you had to take care of her the same way you took care of yourself. The husband that you are to mom has made me the husband I am today. I learned all of that from the way that you lived your life. And I hope one day that my life will show my kids the way that they are supposed to live. Not according to me but according to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thanks for being a great dad and thanks for showing me how to live a life that pleases God. I love you and miss you!
“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.” Col. 1:10
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