I love being a Dad; never thought I would but it's great! Today I was washing dishes and Leif and Annika were begging me to play with them. "Just hold on, I'm working!" was my reply to their pleas. Immediately I was reminded of how I always wanted my Dad to play with me, but he had work to do. For a while there, I guess I kinda held that against him, thinking he was too busy to spend time with me.
Man, I was too critical of my dad; parenthood is not easy. Now that I'm a dad, I look back and realize that my dad is pretty incredible. My older brother rebelled a ton, to say the least. He'll even admit that his high school years were mostly about doing everything my parents taught him not to do. One night he was REALLY mean to my parents and he left them devastated. Just thinking about it right now makes me tense! I'll never forget my dad's reaction: I walked by the living room, and there he was at the piano, playing "Be Still and Know That I am God" and crying his eyes out. What a man. My respect for Dad grew a ton that day; he taught me right then to bless God when things are good, and to bless God when things are rough.
Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. -Philippians 3:17Now that I'm a dad, I find myself asking myself what my Dad would do. It's important to think WWJD, but it's also important to think "What Would (insert godly person who you know here) Do?" Take note of them, don't forget them, and live your life like theirs.
And allow me to tag one more thought on the end here: don't be so hard on your parents like I was. Rest assured they're probably trying their hardest to do what's best for you, and even though they annoy you, they're some of the only people on earth who love you no matter what.
No comments:
Post a Comment