Father’s Day felt special for me this year. Nothing particularly significant happened during the weekend and I don’t think it’s attributed to any single factor, but I had a good one for a variety of reasons.
The weekend was about family
My company actually had a trip to a beach resort during the weekend and I had told them from the beginning that I couldn’t make it since I wanted to be home to help with the baby. I hadn’t realised it was Father’s Day weekend but I’m glad I stayed back.
Saturday started with a 6:30am 10km run with my father. As I ran alongside him, it really hit me suddenly how grateful I am that my parents are healthy and able to fully enjoy life and relationships. Then at night, there was a dinner with the wife’s side of the family.
On Sunday, my sister and brother-in-law visited, and we had a big dinner with my mom’s side of the family, along with my only surviving grandparents. It was wonderful to be able to bring Nat and see her interact with them, four generations apart!
I have an awesome father
I’m not shy to brag that no other dad compares to mine. I’ve never met a person who demonstrates more grace – no matter how much he gets backstabbed or cheated in the past, I’ve never once heard him judge the person or complain. There is absolutely no maliciousness in his nature at all.
And he has lived a life of sacrifice, always believing that you need to give your best in everything you do, and to strive for excellence no matter how small the task is. Even though he would be exhausted from work, he would spend time with each of us to take us through our schoolwork in the evenings, and take us out for sports and exercise every weekend.
Not once has he not given his family the very best he could in every way. And this is why, he’s always been my hero. There is honestly no one else I look up to more.
My two little munchkins
Spending time with them brings me joy like I’ve never experienced before. The sacrifice and tiredness that comes with parenthood is very real, but the purpose and richness that is added to daily life is immeasurable. To have people in your life that you would be willing to do anything and give everything is profoundly meaningful.
And it brings a new level of depth to the love and relationship between my wife and I as well. This is not to say that our relationship prior to having kids was shallow or superficial at all. But kids inevitably bring a new dimension – when I see her stay up through the night to monitor Nat’s temperature and when I cringe as I see her breastfeed Sam in the second week with cracked and bleeding nipples, I can’t help but fall more in love with my wife.
My Father in heaven
God has been so good in every way. Life has not often been smooth or easy, and many of the lessons I had to learn were exceedingly painful. But He’s been there throughout and having an unshakeable, infallible and unchanging point of reference has made all the difference for me.
I managed to make it to church for the first time since Sam was born and was reminded so strongly of the Father’s love for us. It meant so much to me that I could walk up to the altar with my earthly dad during the service, and stand and pray together as fathers. It was an important affirmation because there are still so many moments I feel so inadequate and insufficient as a husband and a father, and wish that I could be stronger or more mature.
So there you have it – four key reasons why I Father’s Day weekend was significant to me this year.
I leave you with three short advertisements that came out for the weekend that made me smile.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!
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