My Dad…

 

The story is told about how he used to talk to me before I was born and when they wheeled me out of the delivery room down the hall to the newborn nursery, he talked to me the whole way and I tipped my head back to follow his voice.  I’ve been following him ever since.  I love everything about him. (except for the way he gets frustrated when he is driving in a big city and doesn’t know where he’s going haha )

 

He was my hero…both literally and figuratively.  He is a soldier.  The Army was such a huge factor in our home life.  He was proud to be a Private and proud to be a Colonel.  He felt like the military was his way of truly serving others.  He was/is known for his kindness.  I often heard from friends that he was so kind even though he was a high ranking officer.  He was a kind officer because he was a hard working enlisted soldier.  He went to Officer Candidate School as a married man with 3 small children while he worked 2 jobs.  I’m so thankful to have grown up watching this work ethic.  And now he is the County Executive in Overton County, TN.  I’m a *tad bit* proud 😉

 

I remember one time I was crying at bedtime because it had felt like months since I’d seen him (probably had only been a few days but felt way longer to me as a kid) because he was smack dab in the throws of school and work and wasn’t home much – because he was working hard to make our lives better!!  That night, this exhausted man came in after I’d been sound asleep to wake me up because my beautiful mom had told him how sad I had been and he scooped me up and just held me and kept telling me how much he loved me and how sorry he was for having to work so much.   I remember feeling his heart ache for me.  You know, one of those tangible moments where you can close your eyes and feel it all over again… He has always been willing to scoop me up and love on me in a way that makes things feel better…like the way a mom kisses booboos and they are instantly better.  I call him on a regular basis asking him to pray for me.  And he ALWAYS drops what he’s doing and prays for me right there.  He never just tells me he will pray, he actually does it while on the phone with me.   There are not enough words to express what a gift this is to me.

 

I have been a youth pastor’s wife for 20 years so I have heard stories from LOTS of teenagers and I know that Dads like mine are few and far between.  He isn’t perfect.  But he’s perfect for me.  He would do anything for me.  He has always been consistent in the way that he loves me.  He set the standard high for how I expected to be loved and appreciated.

 

Thank you Dad for always being a safe place for me to land…

Thank you for always telling me that Jesus loves me and for showing me that you love me too…

Thank you for teaching me that I should be thankful for the men and women who sacrifice so much to serve in our military…

Thank you for all the times you’ve let me crawl in your lap, for all the times you’ve ran your fingers across my eyebrows and made me sleepy…

Thank you for being such a great Dad and an amazing Pawpaw to my babies…

 

You are the best and I thank God for you every single day!

I hope you had an amazing birthday!