Thoughts on Fathers

I realize that I'm a few days late for Father's Day but better late than never. I've been thinking about fathers lately. I have been unbelievably blessed by the "fathers" in my life and I'd like to share a little bit about them.

First of all, my dad. . . growing up, I was known to be a daddy's girl and proud of it. I loved having Dad read me a bed time story, give me a bath, play outside, and do farm stuff with. My dad always worked so hard on the farm to support us and as a teenager, I got to join him in this. I took a tractor safety class and became an employee of Fairchild Farms. :) I have such fond memories of that summer and of growing up on the farm in general. I loved riding in the combine and tractor with Dad. I have learned a lot from my dad over the years but one of the most important lessons is that of hard work and dedication. Being a farmer is never easy, lots of sweat, pain, and unpleasant things (like pulling calves) but my dad is always out there working hard. I spent many hours of my life watching my dad's sport teams play and taking stats. As much as I may joke about hating it, it was fun to be the coach's daughter and as I enjoy being organized and record keeping, keeping stats was right up my alley. I love my dad very much and I am SO excited for the future when Abigail gets to hang out on the farm and learn from her grandpa. I admire my dad's hard work and dedication!

My Grandpa Walter. . . he is now gone from this world, but what a wonderful person he was! I have such fond memories of going out on coffee breaks, fishing, visiting his welding shop, crushing cans (ha ha), and many more in Downs, Kansas. My grandpa never knew a stranger and was always inviting people to church . . . and making sure they had a ride! His positive attitude in life is something that will always stick with me. Even when his kidney's were failing and he didn't feel well, he would say "Oh, I have a cold drink and my nice warm fire, so I'm ok." If only I could have that positive attitude!

My Grandpa Fairchild. . . he also passed along the legacy of hard work and dedication to me! He is a behind-the-scenes kind of man but if he sees something to be done, then he is there, especially when it comes to things needing done at church. He was always in our lives supporting us and making sure that we knew how much we were loved! This is now passed along to my daughter. It brought an immense amount of joy to my heart to see my grandparents play with and enjoy my daughter. I admire my grandpa's quiet strength and strong love!

My father-in-law . . . what a loyal family man and hard worker he is! He is another wonderful example of what a godly father and husband looks like. I can see in his life that he really is walking the walk and not just talking the talk. He is understanding, fun to be around, a hard worker, helpful around the house (an amazing trait), and he can fix anything! I'm serious! He is also a laundry expert (so I've heard) and builds the most beautiful furniture I have ever seen. He is very dedicated to God, his family, his job and now his granddaughter. It has also been a joy for me to watch be a loving grandfather to Abigail!

And last but not least, my loving wonderful husband! I never had a doubt in my mind that he would be the worlds most terrific father (he had a good example). He is patient, loving, funny (this comes in very handy when Abigail is screaming), calm and relaxed, ready to discipline if necessary (this hasn't come yet), willing to get up at night, a fabulous diaper changer, the best bath giver, and a wonderful provider for us! He is excited for Abigail to grow up so he can do bonding things with her. She is absolutely the luckiest girl in the world to have such a loving and attentive daddy. His best quality trait, however, is that he loves the Lord. He wants to raise our daughter to love Him too and that is the best gift ever!

I could seriously go on and on (and include my husband's grandfathers in this too) but I'm out of time and my husband says people stop reading after the first paragraph. :) I hope you have gotten just a little glimpse of how lucky I am to know or have known all of these terrific fathers. Like I have said, the best quality in all of them is that they love the Lord and desire to live lives that glorify Him!