Father's Day 2013

       I will never forget a conversation I had with a girl after one of my psychology classes in college. During class we covered the important roles parent's play and discussed several controversial subjects. As usual, I spoke bluntly about my beliefs on those subjects, most of which were not popular at all. After class, a one of my class mates thanked me for putting myself out there. We started talking and she shared with me that she always wanted to be an attorney, but she never had the confidence to take law classes. She shared with me that her dad told her, the only way she would win a case, was if someone got sick of hearing her talk so much, and just gave up. I could tell that comment her dad made had crushed her. I felt so bad for her...
       Another time, I was in Indiana training for my new job with Eli Lilly. On the way home, all of my collegues rode on the bus to the airport. I was listening to a weeks worth of messages, when I got ANOTHER call from my dad. (He calls me all the time) Again, he just wanted to tell me how proud he was of me, and that he just wanted to let me know how much he loves me. For some reason, I had it playing quietly on speaker phone and my friend, Chris, heard it. Chris came from an EXTREMELY wealthy family, who sent him to private boarding school his whole life, and only really saw him when they went on extravagant vacations together as a family. He didn't really need to work, but he was trying to keep himself busy and become his own man. He asked me to play the message again. I just laughed it off and said, "my dad calls me all the time like this...he is crazy." Chris said, "OMG, I am not sure what I would do if I ever heard my dad say he was proud of me and loved me. I seriously wouldn't know how to act."
       I don't take my dad for granted. He isn't perfect, that's for sure. I get annoyed at how impatient he is and his lack of healthy lifestyle, but at the end of the day, I am 100% confident in his love for me. I feel like my dad has been such a good role model for me. He is strong, but isn't too proud to show when he is struggling. He has always been very transparent and upfront with our family when times were good and not as good. He was honest and never said he was going to do one thing, and then did something else. He is dependable. He is someone I could always count on as a kid...and even now. He is encouraging
. When I doubted myself as an athlete, he gave me what I needed to keep going. He and my mom were fair. They gave me a LOT as a kid, but also expected me to appreciate it, and I did.
       I believe a my dad made it easy for me to follow my desire to give my life to my heavenly Father. If I can depend on a not perfect Earthly father, how much more can I depend on my perfect Father above? I made that connection at an early age and I hope my dad gets some credit for that in heaven. I am truly lucky to have a dad that taught me how to pray and took us to church every Sunday (of course my mom gets credit for this too). I am lucky to have a dad that always taught me I could become whatever I want, even a professional football player. I actually asked him if I could become that when I was little...and he said I could, but I would probably have to be a kicker. LOL I am lucky to have a dad who never tore down my dreams, no matter how crazy they sounded at the time. My dad has always been my biggest cheerleader, and going through this life, it's not bad to have someone like him in your corner. I am so lucky. I love you dad. Thanks for being my rock and for being such an awesome pawpaw to my boys! Happy Father's Day!