Fathers in my life, my heavenly father, my dad, my son and my Poppie.

My first father was there long before my existence was even a thought on this earth, but he knew of me long before the reality of me was in my parents minds or hearts. God sent Jesus to earth for me, and yes for all who believe in him and carry him in their hearts, he also sent him for anyone who comes to him and carries him in their heart. Jesus came to earth for me, that is the reality of all who believe. God, the father, was our father before we existed, on earth, he was already our father then and he knew us always as our father.  A father loves you always, he loves you when you are doing your best and even then you are not, he doesn't always like what you do but he always loves you. That is what a father is and what a father does.

I think that the most special fathers in this world, unlike our heavenly father, are called daddys. I have known alot of men who have fathered children, as most men can, but as the old adage says, "it takes someone special to be a daddy". I was blessed to have a daddy. He wasn't always there in the house, as he was a hard working man that in 40 years of working for a living only missed 11 days of work, the 11 days that he spent in the hospital and recovered from a heart attack.  He was always there when I needed his support and love.  I remember him spinning me around and rough housing with me when I could barely walk, he held my hand and helped me along the way.  He held me in his arms long after my moms were full of new babies.  He taught me to tie my shoes. He took me to the store to buy me tights even when that last place he wanted to be was the lingerie store. He taught me to love history, he helped me rebuild that chainsaw in high school.  He spanked me when I needed it and loved me for who I was, not what he wanted me to be.  I watched him help Poppie become a wonderful daddy.

 Poppie learned to be something he never had from my father, so in a funny way, Poppie and I have the same daddy, not the same father.  Poppie, worked hard when our older kids were little and now thinks that he wasn't a good daddy, but you ask any of our older kids and they have a special daddy.  He wasn't always the disciplinarian, but he was always their daddy.  They remember eating mac and cheese, that he made them, when I was gone, in bed watching tv.   He let them sleep in bed with him when they need him.  He taught them to ride bikes, 3 wheelers, motorcycles, snowmobiles, he was and is a good daddy.  He taught them the gentleness of being a man.  Today he is the daddy, to our little girls, that reads, teaches bike riding, gardening, the love of our little farm.  He is more of a disciplinarian now, but he is somehow more soft and loving, and more of a guide to their lives. He is a good daddy. 

Our son, is his fathers son, he didn't always like that his dad wasn't a macho logger type, but he is the gentle man, that his father was to him, to his kids.  He is in many ways more harsh with his kids than Poppie was. Poppie had been abused, as a kid, and was so afraid of abusing his kids he went the other way and didn't spank, not beat, when they needed it.  Bug has the luxury of being his fathers son, can love and discipline without fear of beating his children, it's not in him, as it wasn't in his father.  I love all the fathers I have and have had the pleasure of knowing and watching becoming fathers in my life.  Today we celebrate them and the love they give to the children in their lives.  I love you daddy, Happy Fathers Day......... tomorrow.