When I was in the 6th grade I was given the assignment to write about my hero. Immediately the first thought that came to my mind was my Dad. Shortly afterwards I thought it might be cooler if I pretended my hero was some superstar athlete. So I chose Deion Sanders, and wrote about how I thought he was awesome because he was able to play baseball and football. Aside from that fact I remember struggling to come up with any more reasons to explain why I thought he was my “hero”. I felt guilty about choosing him over my Dad, because I always knew it just wasn’t true.
My Dad was, and still is, my hero for a lot of reasons:
- He taught me about Jesus at a young age.
- He loved my Mom with genuine sincerity.
- He was good at providing for his family.
- He worked a job that I thought was cool and probably paid well.
- He bought a broken down shack of a building and turned it into a really nice family home for us.
- He built a pitchers mound in the yard and taught me how to pitch during little league off-seasons.
- All of my friends thought he was awesome, and wanted a Dad like him.
- He never spoke words that were hurtful or tore down.
- I could trust him with anything.
- He is thoughtful and made people feel welcomed.
- He is funny.
- He earns the respect of, and is able to relate to people at all levels, from a janitor to a CEO.
- His love is unconditional.
- He is sensible.
- He is strong, but gentle.
- His definition of success is centered around family.
- He was level-headed, and that brings a lot of stability into a family.
- I was, and still am, impressed with homes and buildings he drew.
- He bought our family a personal computer way before most people had one. I owe him big time for this one.
- He never gave up, and never walked away. That’s a huge accomplishment.
- Never once did he put his hands on our mother.
- I fell in a lake when I was real young, and he jumped in to save me.
I could attribute most of what I know and believe from what I learned from him. I would be a lot stronger and a lot wiser if I would have embraced his love and wisdom growing up, instead of trying too hard to be cool. There’s no shame at all in being a “Daddy’s Boy”. So to anyone who has a good Dad, my advice would be to embrace that relationship. Honor him and bless him. He deserves it, and you’ll be glad you did.