Here's to the Dad I Love

I didn't even send a card for Father's Day because I'll be seeing my dear old Dad on Wednesday. For the record, that's why Ethan, Gage, and Fiona haven't seen birthday cards or gifts from me either. I've got them all saved up here for the big event later this week. I just can't let this day pass by without saying something about my fabulous Dad though. He really is great. If you've met him, you probably already know this, but if not, then here's why.

My Dad is the strongest and the smartest Dad around (or at least he was the strongest when I was a kid). I remember my Dad's feats of strenght wowing the crowd when I was young. He could do one-handed push-ups. That's pretty amazing by itself. That's not all though. He could pick up one of our kitchen chairs by holding onto the bottom of one leg with one hand and raise it off the ground without it tipping over. I may not be explaining it in a way that imparts how difficult that is, but trust me, it's tough stuff. It was also fun to watch him do some Indian leg wrestling with the other guys. He may have been a little competitive too.

When we were kids, he was forever showing us games that made us have to think and problem solve. They're the ones that start out something like "If you have three toothpicks and you have to create an object with eight sides..." He always knew the answers too. Amazing how it always worked that way. I also thought it was cool how he taught me the strategy for always winning or tying in tic-tac-toe. It worked too, until he told my siblings the trick and then the cat always got the game and it wasn't any fun anymore. We had to search out new opponents.

My Dad also made it a lot of fun to be a kid. I'm grateful that he built the big sandbox and "pole house" in the back yard. (We didn't have a tree, so he had a big pole stuck in the ground and built the tree house at the top of it. It was pretty darn cool.) He put holes in the red wagon so we could make it into a covered wagon for pioneer day and he built an awesome doll house for me.

All in all, I'm a pretty lucky kid. Most importantly, when my father taught me about my Heavenly Father and how much he loves me, I could imagine a wonderful man looking out for my best interest and trying to shield me from harm. All because I saw these examples of His behavior in my Dad.

Happy Father's Day, Dad! I love you.