Sunday, June 19, 2011

lessons learned from dad

I feel that when it comes to my personality, I really am half of my mom and half of my dad exactly.  I wrote  "lessons learned from mom" on Mother's Day and now, it's dad's turn.

I have a tendency to over-commit myself and plan on doing way more than I can realistically accomplish in an allotted amount of time.  I remember one specific time in high school, I found myself sitting up late at night doing homework and crying.  (I've always been a crier.)  I had pushed myself to the limit and had run out of time.  My dad told me that I have got to learn to say no to things.  It's not that I was doing anything wrong, I was just doing too much.  I'm grateful that I heard those words and I continue to work on that now.

My dad loves to help people.  He was just telling a story today about how he stopped to help a girl out with some car trouble a few months ago.  Her car had run out of gas on the incline leading up to the gas station, so he pushed the car the rest of the way.  He loves giving to people.  My desire to help others comes from watching him..

I have a dad who is a man of many talents.  You name it and he can fix it.  If he doesn't already know how to fix it, he'll figure out.  He loves to cook and my mom says that he taught her a lot of what she knows about cooking.  He is a master of his yard and knows everything about flowers.  He is an excellent musician and businessman.  He has so many interests/hobbies and is always adding to the list.  I love this about him.  It is never too late to try or learn new things.

It was my dad who made me realize what it meant to say, "I love you," to a boy.  I had no idea it was that big of a deal until a long, emotional conversation one night about my high school boyfriend.  My dad said in a mix of disgust and sadness, "and you tell him that you love him?"  I didn't know the weight of those words until that moment and I never said it again to a boy until I met Colt.

Because of my dad, my perception of God as father is so easy to deal with.  A God that is like my dad and loves me like my dad loves me?  That's easy to imagine.  I am blessed to have that.

So, dad, thanks for picking out all of the splinters, washing my car, basically making helping me with science projects, protecting my heart ... and the list could go on.  I love you.  Happy Father's Day!

3 comments:

  1. That's so sweet, Claire! I don't know your dad very well, but from what I know of him, he seems to be a "modern day renaissance man" and that's admirable! So glad you learned so many wonderful things from someone like him!

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  2. I love this claire. One of my favorite of your posts!

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  3. I love this so much. Dads are the sweetest ever! i too am VERY guilty of never saying no to people & my dad (and now husband) always have to lecture me on that too. :)

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