Happy Father's day!

Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy.

The father of my children is Daddy to them.  They adore him, and so do I.

Father's day was always a rotten day growing up because my father was just that - a father and nothing more.  My friends would always be busy with their dad's and I would try my hardest to act as if it was any other day.  But my heart hurt.

I dreamed about when I would have children and the man that they would call Daddy.  I dreamed about father daughter dates, dancing in the kitchen, threatening boys that would look at our daughters.  I dreamed about our sons and how they would do cool boy things with their daddy.  But I didn't have that as a little girl, yet I always knew that I had something better.  I had the ultimate Father.  I knew from the time I was a little girl Psalm 68:5 "A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling" was in my heart.  I knew that God was watching out for me, that He wanted the best for me, that He had a hope and a future for me.

And now, I am married to an amazing man who is my kids' daddy Daddy.  He is the final authority on beauty, dances are best in his arms and train tracks are only "super cool" if built with Daddy.  Our kids don't question his love or commitment to them - they trust him with their whole beings.


I found Luke tonight before bed in the bathroom.  He looked at me and said, "I'm putting gel in my hair like Daddy."  Luke wants to be just like Dave. My daughters are in love with him and Emma wanted to marry him until I explained he was already taken.  When Lily heard that, she just decided she would marry Papa (Dave's dad) instead!  When they get dressed every day, their first stop is at Dave where he will tell them, "Wow!  You look beautiful!"  Emma and Lily are princesses - because Daddy says so.


Father's day is now a day that I love, because God has answered my prayers.  He not only blessed me with an amazing husband who I love to honor on this day, but he also blessed me with a man who was the closest thing to a father I ever had who showed me what it meant to really love God and family.  That man taught me what men were supposed to be to their families.  Watching him and his wife with their sons showed me what kind of family I wanted.


On Father's day we are having donuts for breakfast (kids pick for Daddy) and his presents were hand picked by the kids.  The kids are very proud of their picks of presents for Daddy.  His card is one that Lily picked out where the turtle stretches his arms 2 feet wide showing how much we love him - which is fitting since when we ask Lily how much she loves Daddy she jumps and arches her back and stretches her arms as far as they can go.  Father's day is now a fun day.  And tomorrow I will call my "dad" to say "happy Father's day" and in my heart be thankful of the two men who are the closest images of God's fatherly love that I have ever seen.