Father's Day blessing

      So for Father's Day I wanted to write something about each of the men in my life who have made a difference but for me that would take forever because I have been truly blessed with many godly men in my life so I will narrow this down to three...my dad. My father-in-law. My husband. For these three deserve a shout-out to them:)
   

     My dad: My dad has always been my hero. When I was a little girl, I wanted to marry someone just like him and be just like my mom because to me they were just that awesome:) My dad loved my mom in a gentle way that taught me alot about how to love and be loved one day. My dad continues to teach me that prayer is powerful and to take everything before Christ and to be fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit which lives inside of me. My dad has taught me how to be determined and never give up...how to love when it would be easier to hate....how to open God's Word and study it....My dad has taught me how to be silent when it would be easier to say a mouthfull! My dad has taught me how to cherish the little moments and learn how to be content with what I have instead of always wishing for more. My dad has taught me how to ride a horse and get back on when I got bucked off...which happened WAY to much in my life;) My dad has taught me to live a life that is IN the world but not OF it and he has taught me that by example. He has walked no easy journey as a foster/adoptive dad and I am sure there were many, many moments when it would have just been easier to run...but he stayed. He loved. He forgave. He always welcomes back....I am so grateful that I have always had the oppotunity to watch Christ lived out for me and because of that it has always been easy for me to understand the Father's love for me....because my dad lives out to me every day.

My father-in-law: My father-in-law has walked through fire with our family. He has supported us when it would have been easier to ignore us and the issues of our life:) I know that he has prayed for us with a deep intensity. I know that he as wept for us. I have seen a deep love for his family show on his face through tears as he watched his son struggle. I have heard him pray from his heart as he is burdened for his family and longs for all of his children and grandchildren and now great grandchildren to walk with Christ. I have heard him admit his weakeness and I have seen how much his son loves him. He has always treated me as a daughter and has been there for our family in some dark moments. I have seen him weep with sorrow at the loss of his grandchildren and for the hurt his daughters were feeling. He is a quite man and doesn't always have alot to say but I have learned much from him already. I have seen him love the simple things in life and find joy in fishing, hunting, being outdoors, and visiting his family in Pennsyvania. I have watched the tender way he took care of his mother-in-law as he moved her into his home during her last moments here before she went home. I am grateful for his role in my husbands life and mine. God continues to grow him and change him and that is a beautiful thing to watch:)

My husband: Two years ago on Father's Day I wasn't certain that my husband would ever get it together and if we would even be together....but then I watched in breathless wonder as slowly....bit by bit....my husband surrendered his will to the will of the Father. Today, two years later....I am married to a very different man. I watch him pray over our daughters and my hearts swells. I hear him teach the girls how to be brave enough to say when you are wrong and how to ask for forgiveness. I watch him speak truth into other mens lives...even hard truth....and I am reminded of just how far God has brought this man of mine:) I have seen my husband with hands lifted in surrender to the King singing at the top of his lungs and it still brings me to tears. I have watched as his eyes has filled with tears over what God has and is doing in his life. I have seen him hold babies that the world had discarded and cry as they were sent back to a home that wasn't safe. I have seen him struggle, fall, and get back up and start again. I have seen him step out of the boat of comfort and into the waters of faith and I am so grateful that together we get to walk on water each day in faith. I have watched him turn from sin and humble himself to Christ and because of that I have seen the Holy Spirit fill him as he walks each day in surrender and I have seen the diiference in a man who avoided accountability into a man who invites accountability into his life as he is sharpened by other men in his life. I have seen him cry, pray, love, laugh, be crazy goofy with his girls, and study intensely as he takes on this new journey of schooling as he pursues God's calling on his life. I have watched him run from his anointing and calling for years....to complete surrender to his calling. I continue to watch him as he cares more about our daughter's holiness, than their happiness. I have went from a wife who avoided his leading, to a wife that is honored to be led by him. The journey has been one that has taught me more about trusting the Father's heart than any other journey I have been on...but I would never want to walk any other journey because this journey is what has drawn me closer to the heart of Christ and my husband...and for that I am grateful. When God formed our family, He knew exactly what the journey would be....and He formed our family anyway. He knew that our daughters would need to see love and forgiveness lived out really loud and He already knew that my husband would surrender to Him and that our daughters would see that lived out and it was exactly what they would need to walk through. I am grateful for my husband as a leader of our family and as a daddy for our six daughters...and I am grateful that he isn't afraid to live out his walk...struggles and all....in front of them...for that gives them the grace they need to follow that example.

 
So today...as I sit and think of the men in my life....I am grateful. Not every one has men who walk bravely and lead fiercely.....but I pray even now as you read this that you know with no doubt that you have a Heavenly Father who fights for you, defends you, and who longs for a relationship with you...and because He is such a good Father...He will always pursue you....no matter how dark your road, or how fast you run, or how long you run....He is there....loving you at your darkest.