A day late and a dollar short, I suppose
I know Father's Day is over and done. Sundays, however, are not the best blogging days for me-- too much to do. (I suppose that is another post entirely)
I didn't get to talk to my dad until 4:00 yesterday afternoon, which is 7:00 his time. What's more, he had to call me. Now before you get out your bad daughter switches, I have to offer that I did call him. Four times. Really.
See, that is pretty typical of my dad. The first time I called him, he was most likely in church. The next next time was when he was out tending to his chickens. The next two calls, he was teaching confirmation class, and Mom suggested that she have him call me when he got home.
Service. That's an important lesson from my childhood. Now this is not some sob story about how my Dad was always too busy helping others. Because he was NEVER too busy for us. Never. He did, however, teach us (by his example) the importance of true community. Of doing life with others.
Sometimes it was church family, and taking me along as he and Mom shared themselves with the UMYF at CUMC in Federalsburg. I was the youth group mascot, going from rake-and-runs to sunday school picnics. I may have been an only child for almost five years, but I had twenty or so older "brothers and sisters."
Other times it was work-related. From helping a friend move, to working the Regatta in Shell Point. The Xerox guys really were a team, even after 5 o-clock.
As I grew older, opportunties arose for me outside my family. I still say that ASP is the absolute best way to spend the summer. Today, J and I enjoy the work we have done with Habitat. Always, there is that lesson, lurking in the background.
Now, we are all grown and mostly from home. Dad's lesson and example is still there. Thursday nights are JAM nights. I know he's there, and he LOVES it. This year, he is teaching the confirmands. On Wednesday, these young people will take their first solo steps on a journey begun, for many of them, by their parents.
My prayer and my hope for them is that they have as strong an example of a servant leader as I do.
I didn't get to talk to my dad until 4:00 yesterday afternoon, which is 7:00 his time. What's more, he had to call me. Now before you get out your bad daughter switches, I have to offer that I did call him. Four times. Really.
See, that is pretty typical of my dad. The first time I called him, he was most likely in church. The next next time was when he was out tending to his chickens. The next two calls, he was teaching confirmation class, and Mom suggested that she have him call me when he got home.
Service. That's an important lesson from my childhood. Now this is not some sob story about how my Dad was always too busy helping others. Because he was NEVER too busy for us. Never. He did, however, teach us (by his example) the importance of true community. Of doing life with others.
Sometimes it was church family, and taking me along as he and Mom shared themselves with the UMYF at CUMC in Federalsburg. I was the youth group mascot, going from rake-and-runs to sunday school picnics. I may have been an only child for almost five years, but I had twenty or so older "brothers and sisters."
Other times it was work-related. From helping a friend move, to working the Regatta in Shell Point. The Xerox guys really were a team, even after 5 o-clock.
As I grew older, opportunties arose for me outside my family. I still say that ASP is the absolute best way to spend the summer. Today, J and I enjoy the work we have done with Habitat. Always, there is that lesson, lurking in the background.
Now, we are all grown and mostly from home. Dad's lesson and example is still there. Thursday nights are JAM nights. I know he's there, and he LOVES it. This year, he is teaching the confirmands. On Wednesday, these young people will take their first solo steps on a journey begun, for many of them, by their parents.
My prayer and my hope for them is that they have as strong an example of a servant leader as I do.
Comments