Dad

When I was young, I knew I was adored.

My dad would take me on dates and sing to me as I came down the steps in the morning. He also played tag and chased me around the house until the day he tripped and seriously injured his shoulder. On an unrelated note...did I mention by the time I came into the family my father was not all that "young"?

When I was a teenager, I knew I was safe.

I shudder knowing I will have teenagers someday. I knew everything, and I didn't need any advice or guidance. But even when I was arguing and blocking him out, I was watching. I watched him love our mom the way a husband should. I watched him hurt for his kids as he walked with them in their pain. I almost watched him die, and as scary as that was, I watched his commitment to God throughout his entire recovery. And through all of my watching I knew I had a father who loved God and his family. And I knew I was safe.

When I was in college, I knew I was an idiot.

The time came when I finally saw the selfish spoiled girl I truly was-the stupid girl who knew nothing and had taken the gift of her father for granted.

Now I'm a girl with her own family. And now I know. The adoration, the security, the unconditional love...it all came from a man who reflects my Heavenly Father far better than any other dad I know.

I am who I am today because of the man my father was and is. The older I get, the more aware I become that fathers in general are scarce, but fathers like him are unheard of.

But he exists, and he is a gift I no longer take for granted.