Father's Day Weekend

How many people are blessed with grandchildren who like to go to thrift stores? When we suggested Goodwill, they couldn't wait to get in the car!

 

Eve got her hands on the camera.

That Opa - he's soooo smooth! (and right after this he knocked the glass over and lost most of his soda)

Of course there had to be lots of Temple Run 2, and Bejewelled (or was it Bedazzled?) They each got a screen that was sized "just right".

 Ellie made a "Love Robot" for Paul for Father's Day. I got a compact "travel version".

Jedi Knight Nate with his light saber.

Stormy was flicking his tail to hit Eve and Oma in the face.

Next it was "try on Oma's glasses".

 

I'm not sure who was handling the camera for these shots.

 

Father's Day

I received a very special gift from my daughter for Father's Day. She made me a card – she's very creative and always makes cards instead of buying them. She wrote some very nice things in the card about how glad she was that I was her Dad. On paper, they probably look just like the words you might expect to see on thousands of other Father's Day cards.

It was the words she said as I read the card that got me. Years ago (I don't even remember what year) we went on a backpacking trip through the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon. Somewhere along the trip, she left her kool-aid container behind and realized it later. I went back to retrieve it. I didn't even remember it until she mentioned that this was on her mind as she wrote the card. It reminded me how true it is that the important things for our children are not so much taught by us, but caught by them as they watch us live our lives.

Was I a perfect father? No. Did I experience anger or frustration with my kids? You bet. Did I spank them? Yep, but always as a measured response and never in anger if I could help it. Even then, the most important thing was the hugs and expressions of love and care that came afterward.

For me the highest priorities in my life are:

1. My relationship with God

2. My relationship with my wife

3. My relationship with my children & grandchildren.

The priorities are so close for me that I dare you to find any real space between them.

For me, my relationship with God has always meant that I am to be a servant as far as the other priorities are concerned. If one of them needs me for something – or for nothing in particular – I'm there. I love my 914 and I enjoy solving the challenges associated with my career in computers, but nothing is more important to me than my family. No car event, car project, PC repair, or activity to learn a new programming language - no other activity in my life ever gets top priority over serving them.

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Paul is really just restating the “Golden Rule” to treat others as you wish to be treated. It has always seemed to me that it's just the way you should live.

I'm not an eloquent writer. I can't come up with witty ways to say this stuff. But my heart is overflowing to think that something so seemingly insignificant made such a deep and positive impression on someone that I love more than life itself. I'm all too ready to see my imperfections and mistakes. It's so wonderful to be reminded that God has used me to model Him more often than I often think and it's a reminder of how important it is to maintain that focus. It's my daily prayer that my every action will show His incredible love.

I Love Oranje

This sticker has been adorning the driver's door of "Darlene" (Nick's VW Bus) since 2000. We were in The Netherlands after dropping Nick off in Ulm, DE for a summer of German language school. The European Football Championship tournament was hosted in the Netherlands that year and everywhere you looked, the country was decked in orange. Even the fountain in a Rotterdam round-about had orange water. Since Nick has a thing for orange, we knew we had to have this sticker when we saw it in a store window. It turned out that the store was using them for decoration, not for sale, and the clerks had no idea where to obtain one. They generously gave of one of their stickers - we never saw them anywhere else in the country. It makes me smile every time I see it.

The sticker came to mind this week because of an annual "Orange Encounter" on my daily commute. There is a house along the side of Highway 180 that has a large patch of Orange Poppies. They only bloom for about 2 weeks, but they come back faithfully each spring. This year the peak for them was the last week of May, and of course I managed to forget to have the camera along in the car until this week.

Despite missing their peak time, it was wonderful to see them each day and when I stopped to photograph them I met the home owner who seemed quite happy to show off his wife's pride and joy. He said that they spread by runners and that they are quite hardy once started, but challenging to get started. I think I'll just enjoy her's instead of attempting any of my own.