Father's Day Thoughts

     I heard the door to the garage open and close, and I froze in my tracks. He was home? Was it that time already? The instinct to run and hide hit me hard and I quickly hurried around the corner of the living room to the steps going upstairs. I could not let him see me! My heart beat hard in my chest as I listened carefully to know where he was. I heard him greeting my mother in the kitchen and then footsteps came down the stone tile in the hallway to the closet door. I trembled where I sat on the steps, with only a thin wall separating me and him. I glanced up to the edge of the railing, one I loved to slide down whenever I came down from my room upstairs. My head came to about a foot below the top of the wall and I knew he could peek over at any time and scare me with that silly grin on his face. I crouched lower to the stairs and hoped it would not occur to him that I might be hiding within his reach. After putting his coat away, he closed the door and I heard him ask Mom, “Where is Cara? Usually she is here to say hello.”
     “Maybe she is upstairs in her room,” Mom answered from the kitchen.
     “Maybe,” he answered, “but, I think she is hiding from me again.” 
     Panic set in and I knew I just had to run again. I had to try to make a mad dash off the stairs and back into the living room without him seeing me. I crept slowly down to the bottom and was about to run when he suddenly peeked around the corner and shouted, “Ahh haa! I got you!”
     I screeched loudly as he grabbed me and tickled me, then pulled me into a big bear hug. “You were trying to hide from me again, weren't you?” he laughed, pretending to be surprised, though it had become our little game. The warm feeling that filled my heart that day still warms my memory of today – Father's Day. It is not something we always celebrated, though we did appreciate Dad in a big way. We loved to draw him pictures that he stored in a file at work. Our family was just not one to celebrate many holidays, but over the years I began to send my Dad a card just so he would know how much I appreciated him and loved him. Sometimes we do not say it enough to those we love. We get busy with life. We assume they know. Or we take for granted all they do for us, and we think that they will always be around. I never thought I would be one to say that I do not have a daddy on this earth anymore. I did not think that there would come a Father's Day when I did not need to send a card anymore. It breaks my heart. It will not be easy to go to church today and see all the people who still have their fathers with them. As they receive their gift, I will close my eyes and imagine my Dad receiving the best gift he ever could up in heaven. A crown for serving the Lord...one for being the best Dad ever on this earth; for being steadfast in his faith; for being a good example to those he worked with, and for his children at home. I will never forget the testimony of an unsaved office mate during the Celebration of Life a month ago. He stood up front and gave witness to the fact that my Dad was never moved by circumstances at work. He was steady from the moment he walked in the door to the time he left every evening. It was a blessing to hear that Dad's testimony went beyond the house and into the workplace, where he was loved and respected for his faith.
     So, celebrate your dad today. Tell him you love him; bless him with your appreciation and presence. Do not take him for granted. But, if you are like me and find yourself without a dad today, then look up to your Heavenly Father, Who will never leave you nor forsake you. Tell Him how much you love Him. Tell Him how thankful you are for all He has done in your life. Do not despair because you still have a Father, and He loves you very much.
     Dear Father, please tell my dad in heaven how much I love and miss him. Thank you for giving me such a Godly father on this earth; one who could show me the path to You.......”
     Happy Father's Day to all the dads out here.