Today is my dad’s birthday! I thought I would introduce you to him by telling you all the things I appreciate about my dad. Here’s my list in no particular order.

Devoted – I know of two things that my dad is wholly devoted to: 1) The Lord. He loves the Lord with all his heart. He loves to preach. He loves to tell others how to be saved. He has brought up his daughters to love the Lord as well. He loves the Bible. 2) My mom. This year my parents have been married for 48 years! What a wonderful example they have set for their daughters and grandchildren of loyalty to one’s spouse no matter what.

Smart – You can ask my dad about almost any date/person/event in history, and he can give you all the information you could ever hope to know on the subject. I am continually amazed at what my dad has retained in his memory over the years. 

Funny – I have to admit my dad isn’t really a joking kind of guy, but he had one joke that he told for years. He found this joke so funny he usually couldn’t deliver the punch line because he was laughing so hard at that point. Everyone always laughed anyway because he was obviously having so much fun.

Generous – My dad loves to help people with their needs. I’ve also always known that if I ever had a need my dad would do anything he could to help me. Every year at Christmas my dad would always say, “Girls, we don’t have a lot of money this year so there won’t be many gifts.” And every year we had a Christmas loaded down with gifts.

Dramatic – While he was a teacher at Maranatha Baptist Bible College he took part in several dramatic productions. He was a communist book seller in a small skit, Mr. Dussel in “The Diary of Anne Frank”, an official in Ahasuerus’ court in a play about Esther and Grumio who is Petruchio’s man servant in “The Taming of the Shrew”. I remember helping him many times with his lines and going to rehearsals. He passed this love of theatre on to his girls. My sister, Joy, in particular loves to act.

Dedicated – When I was between the ages of about eight and ten my dad pastored a church that took us nearly an hour to drive to one way. Another instance of his dedication is seen in his determination that my sisters and I get a Christian education. One year he was even willing to pay $200 per month (in the 70’s no less) just in gas to get us to the only good Christian school in our area.

Loving – When we hurt, I know my dad hurt. When I went through a broken engagement I know my dad was hurting for me. One time I had a medical procedure done that was very painful, and I remember my dad holding me while I cried.

Encouraging – As a parent, he always encouraged to be and do the best we could. If there was something we were particularly interested in he would buy us books on the subject or in the case of music get us lessons. He has carried on this tradition with my children giving them books about whatever their interest is at the moment. When I was very little my mom sold Tupperware, and my dad would enthusiastically sing, “Tupperware, Tupperware – finest product anywhere. You can’t beat it. Don’t you try. Tupper, Tupper, Tupperware”. These days he’s supporting her in her Creative Memories business.

Disciplined – When my dad does something like go on a diet or learn a new language, he is totally in to it. He taught me the same. Don’t complain about what needs to be done just get on with it.

Gregarious – My dad knows no strangers. He can talk to anyone about anything and he often does. Sometimes we tease him after he’s talked to someone for a while asking if he got their blood type.

Meticulous – He loves everything to be clean and just so. I wish I could say this had been passed on to me, but I didn’t get a full strain of this quality. Let’s just say that we try to make sure the house is clean when Grandpa is coming over which has become interesting now that they live in an apartment connected to our home! Currently the children are wondering which will wear out first – Grandpa’s vacuum cleaner or the carpet in his car.

Bibliophile – My dad owns thousands of books. He has a tremendous love for books, and that is probably an understatement. He passed this love along to my sisters and I. We currently have more books than shelf space. We have to keep many boxed up and rotate them onto the shelf every couple of weeks. This love is being passed along to his grandchildren who can barely be kept in reading material. Not a bad heritage to leave to your family!

Happy Birthday, Dad. I hope to celebrate many more birthdays with you.