What Is A Dad?

Every boy has a dad - somewhere.

 What Is A Dad?

A dad is someone who
wants to catch you before you fall
but instead picks you up,
brushes you off,
and lets you try again.

A dad is someone who
wants to keep you from making mistakes
but instead lets you find your own way,
even though his heart breaks in silence
when you get hurt.

A dad is someone who
holds you when you cry,
scolds you when you break the rules,
shines with pride when you succeed,
and has faith in you even when you fail...
- Unknown 

May our Father in heaven embrace all His children on earth in those tender arms of His love -- boys and girls, dads and moms, grandpas and grandmas, and especially those who think they have no children. 

Revisiting one of the best dads

 Revisiting and honoring one of the best dads I've known.
First published August 28, 2007.
He was fond of saying, "My cup is running over (with goodness), and I'm drinking from the saucer! 

Dan with great granddaughter

My father-in-law passed peacefully away this morning. He’d lived a good and long life, survived two wonderful wives, is cherished by a third. He has three wonderful grown kids, grand-children and great grand-children. Dan was just going, as he phrased it a couple of days ago, “to walk into the next room.”

I’ve known Dan for forty years. He is one of the most consistently happy people I’ve ever met. The world doesn’t know what to do with happy people. It works hard to make them sad. He never took the bait. He kept his joy. Sometimes it took a bit of wrestling on his part to stay aligned with the good he believed was supreme in life, but he always rose to the occasion, and quickly.

He enjoyed a good joke. He was a careful and interesting story-teller. With a twinkle in his eye, he would relate an appropriate pun for the occasion, and chuckle at the groans from his audience. He loved people. He devoted the last 40 years to helping others find health, balance, stability, joy, peace – helping them feel the power of God’s love in their lives.

And, this is the big one – I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. He lived Christ Jesus’ life message: to love one another.

He made the best of what life gave him, and he always felt life was giving him abundant good. He cherished family and friends alike.

With his perpetual joy, undaunted trust in the triumph of good, and genuine love for all God’s children, he set a great example of what it means to unconditionally love one’s fellow man.

He will definitely “Be in that number, when the saints go marching in”!

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If you would like to add a tribute to Dan, please do!

If this post has meant something to you, you might want to click on Comments below, and read those too.

Also see "Tribute" post in Kim's blog.

Goodnight Sweetheart!

Most of us have seen a mom or dad or grandparent singing to an infant. The lullaby comforts, soothes, calms. Sometimes it puts the weary little one to sleep.

Here’s a YouTube you might enjoy. Important to have your volume way up so you can hear the man telling the puppies it's time to go to bed, as well as the fact that he is actually singing to them.




As infants and toddlers nestle safely in their parent’s arms, so you and I can nestle in the ever-presence of our Father-Mother as Spirit, or Truth, or Love.

May we all feel this closeness that the puppies respond to. It describes our relationship with our Maker as interactive, caring, present, safe and comforting.

Changing people's lives - by example

Dan didn't ignore the world's evil.

He just greeted it on his own terms

-- with a smile.

My husband’s dad was a gem. As mentioned in a previous post, he was a consistently happy man. He didn’t ignore the slings and arrows – the unkind, impatient, or evil things of the world. He just chose to meet the world on his own terms – upbeat and cheerfully, with a solid conviction in the inevitability of good.

His daughter Janeen and his wife Rachel recently held a celebration of his life on the West Coast for Dan’s friends and relations out there. They put a great deal of love and care into an interactive presentation that would speak to the hearts of his many friends.

In preparation, Janeen solicited memories by email, and they poured in. I’m told the celebration was a great success, with many people coming despite a major national sports event the same afternoon.

Here’s one of those memories that perfectly defines Dan. I hope you enjoy it. His (other) daughter-in-law wrote:

One time I was with Dan in his car. He was making a turn, and I think he was too far over in someone's driving lane. Well this guy does his angry beep, beep, beep da beep beeps. And then flips Dan the finger.

Dan put his hand up and out of the window, wiggled it in a very friendly like gesture, as if he were waving to a dear, long-lost friend. As we passed the other car, I noticed this guy had an angry, dumbfounded look on his face. Mine probably looked much the same. I exclaimed "Dan, didn't you see what he did ?"

Dan said, "Ooooooooooooooooooh yes, Randi dear." (As only Dan can say it.)

I was very confused and said "Dan, they gave you the finger!"

Dan said, "I know Randi dear, I was giving them all of mine."

So now if anyone flips me off. I just wave back at them with all my fingers and smile. It leaves them with their mouths hanging open, unsatisfied and quite confused. They think I did not get their message. I did, of course. I just prefer to give Dan's message back.

What a tribute to this man. Short of stature, he was big of heart. He never let others control his happiness. He lived a life of choosing to be happy. And by his example, Randi’s attitude towards adversity changed to one of taking charge!

And here is a little poem he liked. It’s simple message may help explain his perpetually cheerful outlook. The title is longer than the poem!

“Minimal Couplet for Praising God and Holding One's Own Joy,” by Neil Millar.

Just
Trust

That’s Dan. He forever trusted in the ultimate triumph of good.

Previous tribute to this happy man.

Tribute to a happy man

Dan with great granddaughter

My father-in-law passed peacefully away this morning. He’d lived a good and long life, survived two wonderful wives, is cherished by a third. He has three wonderful grown kids, grand-children and great grand-children. Dan was just going, as he phrased it a couple of days ago, “to walk into the next room.”

I’ve known Dan for forty years. He is one of the most consistently happy people I’ve ever met. The world doesn’t know what to do with happy people. It works hard to make them sad. He never took the bait. He kept his joy. Sometimes it took a bit of wrestling on his part to stay aligned with the good he believed was supreme in life, but he always rose to the occasion, and quickly.

He enjoyed a good joke. He was a careful and interesting story-teller. With a twinkle in his eye, he would relate an appropriate pun for the occasion, and chuckle at the groans from his audience. He loved people. He devoted the last 40 years to helping others find health, balance, stability, joy, peace – helping them feel the power of God’s love in their lives.

And, this is the big one – I never heard him say an unkind word about anyone. He lived Christ Jesus’ life message: to love one another.

He made the best of what life gave him, and he always felt life was giving him abundant good. He cherished family and friends alike.

With his perpetual joy, undaunted trust in the triumph of good, and genuine love for all God’s children, he set a great example of what it means to unconditionally love one’s fellow man.

He will definitely “Be in that number, when the saints go marching in”!

----------------------------------------------------------------

If you would like to add a tribute to Dan, please do!

If this post has meant something to you, you might want to click on Comments below, and read those too.

Also see "Tribute" post in Kim's blog.

Applauding manhood

June 17 celebrates Father's Day in the US, and so I want to use this opportunity to applaud all the men in my life.

Not individual portraits -- fun and worthy though that would be -- such a listing would fill many posts. So we'll have to be content to view a collective snapshot.

• A good sense of humor. They know how to laugh at themselves.
• They are hard workers.
• Honest. They are what they seem, and they are comfortable with who they are.
  
• Thoughtful and considerate, they are willing to listen when their women need to be heard.
• They play with their kids, and enjoy their grandkids.
• Solution oriented, they meet adversity by looking for the way forward.
• They forgive. They don't hold grudges. This has to be what I am most grateful for, because in any diverse group of people, toes get stepped on. And I've stepped on more than my share. And have been so grateful to have been forgiven every time -- well, so far as I know.
• Progress. A willingness to let the past rest in the past as everyone moves forward
• Broad vision. One of the best aspects of manhood -- to see the bigger picture and make decisions on that basis.
• Generous. That generous spirit that says Yes to new ideas, Yes to spontaneity, Yes to spouse's sometimes outrageous whims.
• Kind. Ready to lend a hand where there's an honest need.
• Wise. Discerning when to say yes, when to say no.
  
• Community oriented. They participate in the communities of their various interests.
• Respectful. Though sometimes, perhaps often, amused, they respect women's uniqueness and support their endeavors.
• Good conversationalists. How I appreciate those sparkling idea-based conversations.
• Nurturers. They know or have learned how to nurture the best in those around them.
• Patient with the foibles of the other sex.
  

These spiritual qualities shine and bless. They define true manhood, and point to their source, the Maker of the universe.

Thanks guys, for being there. Too often we gals gripe and complain about things that usually are not all that important. So when we step back and appreciate your contribution to our lives, we can agree, you're the greatest!