Since we have adopted our kids, we have not really sat down. And we sure have not had much time for reflection. Nonetheless, I am thankful for a day that causes me to think about my own dad and the father of my children. And so, even if the kids are still a little clueless as to how wonderful their Dad is, I am well aware that our kids could not ask for a better father. Having Dave as their dad, no doubt, has changed the course of their lives and maybe their eternity. Things I love about Dave:
Dave says he needs around 10 hours of sleep a night. He likes movies and junk food. He would always prefer to be on the couch…and yet Dave serves our kids day in and day out. For instance, when we brought Kaden and Makrya home from Ethiopia, the flight home was a total of 24 hours in the air and Kaden did not sleep at all which means Dave did not sleep. And Kaden threw up on Dave so many times that Dave had to buy more clothes at the airport…and things have not slowed down since then. I am a really deep sleeper which means Dave has been the one to get up with the kids at night (sorry honey!), he stayed home with them so I could go to school, he does the girls hair, we traveled the country to raise support for missions, and now he is trying to learn a foreign language while parenting. Is he exhausted? Always. But he just keeps going.
He is willing to take on (a lot) of increased difficulty for the sake of others
A few years ago, we had just adopted two infants and three months after we had them, I turned to Dave and said I thought we should adopt two more (oh, and move all of us to Africa, why not?). Dave was a little intimidated by this idea (rightfully so) and yet agreed to it because, even though it would make our lives more difficult, “growing up in poverty without parents is harder.” He was more concerned about kids on the other side of the world then he was about his own ease of life. This heart is seen in so many areas of his life.
He just keeps going
Dave says he needs around 10 hours of sleep a night. He likes movies and junk food. He would always prefer to be on the couch…and yet Dave serves our kids day in and day out. For instance, when we brought Kaden and Makrya home from Ethiopia, the flight home was a total of 24 hours in the air and Kaden did not sleep at all which means Dave did not sleep. And Kaden threw up on Dave so many times that Dave had to buy more clothes at the airport…and things have not slowed down since then. I am a really deep sleeper which means Dave has been the one to get up with the kids at night (sorry honey!), he stayed home with them so I could go to school, he does the girls hair, we traveled the country to raise support for missions, and now he is trying to learn a foreign language while parenting. Is he exhausted? Always. But he just keeps going.He will NOT be out-willed by a two-year old
So, the 2’s and 3’s have been pretty rough for our family. And all of our kids are around those ages and thus every day at least one of them declares war against our authority and relentlessly persists in some type of forbidden behavior. And Dave has NEVER looked the other way or chuckled at the “terrible twos” but instead deals with the behavior while reminding them, “Oh, I am a lot more stubborn then you are.” Every command Dave gives to our kids, he expects them to obey. The result is that our kids have a healthy fear of their father and know that he is a man who means what he says. And when he tells them they need to swallow that piece of broccoli that they’ve been holding in their mouths for an hour, they know he is serious.
So Happy Father’s Day to an amazing Dad!
