This week found Deborah teaching Summer Bible School, attempting to impress upon her first grade class the marvels  of creation. “Could you create a world?” “No! Huh uh!” Her first graders laughed at the thought..” How about a star? They are little and far away, and there’s so many of them..” Still the classes response is the same-not a chance.. “What about a tree? There are everywhere, surely you could make a tree..” At this, Preston, with his solemn big eyes, took the floor “Well, I know I couldn’t but I’m pretty sure Daddy could..” The rest of the class hasten to agree- they know their dads would have no trouble creating a tree… Innocence..

My dad cringes at the memory of a preacher attempting to illustrate the theory that “a threefold cord is not easily broken ” during a children’s meeting one Sunday at church, so he asked “Do any of you have a really strong dad?” Emily’s hand shot into the air-of course… And Father was called to the front.. The problem with the illustration was, that the cord happened to be baler twine, which is impossible to break as a single cord, so there was no way to show weakness when we are alone… My dear dad got rope burn trying, what gallant effort…

Today is Father’s Day, which makes me stop and think.. Obviously, as I journey thru adulthood, I am aware that the glowing “My Dad can do anything” is not reality. My dad is human.. But He is an incredible human that I’m honored to share life with.

Father and I have been friends for forever. The story goes that I went on my first trucking trip with him when I was 6 weeks old- I don’t remember that.. But he always did so good at taking us along. Granted, a number of times, I’d get busy playing with the children at the local machine shop, and I’d look up to see the tail lights of our pickup, and I’d think “Well, guess he’ll come back to get me after awhile..” We loved going with him-Julia and I HAD to take turns.. Much to Mother’s chagrin, we always thought our days with Father were the best..

As I mentioned last post, My dad never had any sons, yet he never made us feel like we didn’t measure up.” Who needs boys?” He’d say, and have confidence that we could do whatever he asked, even when we second and third guessed our abilities.. I love that about him.

There are a number of things about him that I hope I can mimic.. His love for God..  His enthusiasm for the job at hand..  His ability to see humor anywhere… His complete devotion to his family… His appreciation of a good story.. His selfless generosity..

One of my friends lost her dad several years ago to cancer, and one night she made me stop in my tracks. It was in the heart of harvest and I was feeling over worked and a little overwhelmed and she texted and wondered how my life was.. I told her I felt swamped, currently, and she said, “That so special that you can still work with your dad..” Time for a little re-evaluation..

And so, to my dear Father, who makes me feel special, believes in me, listens with patience to all my wild ideas, who supports me through whatever… You are the best.. Thanks for everything. I love you, Kendra

Bonus Pic:

This week, My lady riding shotgun was an 88 year old rug weaver… I asked if she had any idea how many rugs she had weaved, and she acted all embarrassed to tell me… But she finally did, and I put a pencil to the number and realized she had weaved 60 miles of rugs in her lifetime… That’s a few hours of labor..