Daddies

I should have posted this before Father's Day. Oops. Anyway, most of you know that I did not have a close relationship with my father. He was an alcoholic and left our family when I was 12. Although he was in and out for most of my life, I never felt as if Father's Day was something I was ever able to participate in. Having said that for history's sake, that is not why I'm posting.
I am posting today to celebrate my husband. God has given me such a gift not only in Rob as my husband, but, as a father to my children. He loves our girls so much and he takes time to talk to them, play with them, read to them and really get to know them. When he comes home at night, he wants to know all about what we did that day and how they acted/reacted to the things that we did. It's amazing to me to see how he wants to be so involved in every aspect of their lives. He hugs and kisses them and, in turn, disciplines them sternly and lovingly. He's not perfect, by any means, but he's pretty incredible anyway. I have been privileged to be able to witness the father that he is to them. The girls are crazy about him and I know that that security and confidence in a father that loves them will be a catalyst for them to grasp the love of their heavenly Father. I hope that he feels honored as he should because he is our rock and we love him so very much. Happy Father's Day, honey!

Going Home

I thought when I started this blog that I would just post things all the time. But, I have found that I want to have something to say, even if it's not earth shattering. This morning I went to a funeral of a very dear family friend, Peggy Southard. She had been battling cancer for 2 years and she passed away on Sunday morning. She and her family had planned the entire funeral and it was amazing. I don't even think that I can do the experience justice by describing it. It was truly a praise and worship celebration. I feel spiritually revitalized just by being able to listen to the testimony of the friends and family that loved her. I feel comissioned to go deeper with Christ and deeper into the Word because of the legacy of her faith that we celebrated today. A woman like Mrs. Southard is rare indeed. But, what I saw today was a description of an imperfect woman who struggled just as I do and many others do also. The magnetism of who she was, and is, was found in her relationship with Jesus. I can't explain what the whole service encompassed as far as describing her life and relationships and such. But, what I do know is that I felt God there. Intensely. He met everyone in that place today. And through His effect on believers and non-believers there, there was no doubt a call to Himself. For me personally, it was a call to be first and foremost a daughter of the Son of God. Then a wife, then a mother, then a child, and then a friend. I'm going to linger in the moment that was today and I pray that what I heard today would continue to penetrate. Because even though Peggy was by no means perfect, she was a standard of faith, relationship, and compassion that I aspire to. I can only imagine how it would feel to lose a mother at our relatively young ages. But, I know that the time they had with her is immeasurable and incomparable. I want to love my children the way that she loved her children. And, especially I want to love and cherish my husband the way that she loved and cherished hers. What a marriage. What a relationship. What a life.