Photos and Food

 

I was treated royally on Father's day last weekend. Andrew had just returned from Victoria and brought me a bag of chocolate goodies. The photo is a caramel and chocolate covered apple with a spray of white chocolate and marshmallows on the top. There was more.

I got a nice shirt and some monster cookies from Rachel and her family, plus a nice drop-in visit in the afternoon.

busylizzy took me to a Tuscan Garden in Mt. Lehman and told me to bring my camera. The garden is only open in the middle of the day when the light is at its worst, but I still got a few worthy photos, as you can see from below.

I have treasured my roll as a father throughout the years and without taking any credit, I am more than thrilled to see and experience the wonderful family I now have. I am proud of each and everyone of them and love them all to bits. And, because I also had a good father, this day is a good day for me, something that not everyone can say.

 

 

Fatherless

 

Evening skies over Oroville Wa. USA

 

It is one year since my father passed away. It is Father's Day today and I cannot help but think of my orphan status. Many thoughts come to mind and here are a few of them.

 

I was fortunate to have a dad for 65 years. Not everyone my age can say that.

 

I do not regret spending a lot of time with him, throughout my entire life.

 

I learned many things from my dad, both what to do and what not to do. Teaching both is important.

 

Having a dad is a gift that is to be treasured and appreciated. They will love you unconditionally, even when they are ticked.  

 

My thoughts about fatherhood must now turn in other directions. My own status as a father and how I can do that better, how being a grandfather is part of the package, and how I now look to my heavenly father for all and more that I received from my earthly father.

 

The metaphor of God being our father is pure genius. When we see it in light of our own situation within our family, the parallels are uncanny. But beyond that, the relationship with God as our Father  is on a much higher plain. It is here that fatherhood reaches perfection. A perfect father loving an imperfect child and doing everything for his ultimate good and for his ultimate benefit is not achievable on a human level.

We Christians speak of a reunion with our loved ones when we reach the afterlife. Will our embrace with our earthly parents be nearly as sweet as finally being in the presence of our Heavenly Father? How wonderful that we will get to experience both.

 

Today I cannot give my dad a box of chocolates and tell him that I love him, because he is not here. But I can tell my Heavenly Father that I love him and that I will commit to that love for all my life. I might even ask for a box of chocolates, which, he will no doubt, give to me, through the children whose earthly father I am.

Father's Day

There are not many guys my age who still have a father. I remember growing up, having many friends who did not have a father even as teenagers or young men. Of my many friends today, I only know of one or two that still have their fathers. I still have mine.
Fatherhood can take on many different styles. The strengths of one father will be the weakness of the other but without a doubt, what is modelled in everyday living will have an influence on his children for good or for bad.
I find it interesting that as I talk to my siblings, they have a different perspectives of our father. He related to each one of us differently and certainly treated the boy differently than the girls. They will read this and probably disagree or at least have a unique perspective on my observations.
My father was more of a friend to me than a teacher, a leader, a mentor, or a disciplinarian. A father is always an example whether deliberately or not and he modelled both good and bad behaviour to me. Even though today I recognise and differentiate between the good and the bad, it still has a pull on me, both ways. It is difficult to say in the same breath, "I am going to be just like may father" (in the good ways) and then "I am not going to be like my father" (in the bad ways). He is a package and it is most difficult to be both like him and not like him at the same time.
The important thing is to give him honour. It is most counterproductive to not do so.

Hazy Daisy

Those of you who read ODB probably now think that I am a plagiarist. Truth be told, I did not read the Sunday entry until this morning and it was then I realized that my post on Father was so close to it that it looked like a copy. Pure coincidence, I assure you. The premise is not unique so that two authors would come up with the same idea on Father's Day is not really a stretch.

My Father's Day was the best. The loveliness of my life and my favourite son took me out for a really great Father's Day Brunch at a very popular local restaurant and we were very fortunate to even get in without a reservation. The day was sunny and bright and I later walked to my own father's home where I had a good long visit and gave him his annual new shirt. He liked it, or so he says. How could he not. It is blue like his other three. We then went to my favourite daughter's for the most wonderful BBQ on the patio. The chicken and shrimp skewers were done to perfection and after loading up on not one, but two amazing deserts, we had a good long soak in the hot tub, grandsons and all. I love my family and spending time with them is the best a father can do on 'his' day. Thanks, you guys, it was wonderful.

Father

Patient

Loving

Kind

Supportive

Mentoring

Forgiving

Longsuffering

Admonishing

Honest

Trustworthy

Protective

Helpful

Attentive

These are but a few of the desired characteristics of a good father. I am afraid we all fall short of the ideal. The most important task a man will ever have is raising his children, yet he enters into the job with virtually no experience. What he does have is the inclination to mimic his own father, the intelligence to glean the good aspects of that, and the resources to strike out on a new path if that is what is required. But, keep in mind that we all have two fathers. The perfect one, our Heavenly Father, is the one we should try most to emulate. Matt 5: 48