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Thursday, February 16, 2012

My Father-in-Law

Joshua and I were talking one day and it somehow or another came up that I’ve never blogged about my father-in-law.  But then it occurred to me that I sort of did once and you can read it here.

My father-in-law knows how I feel about him, but I thought I would share with you!

A couple of things about my father-in-law (he's the one in the middle and I just LOVE this picture)……



There are only a handful of comments that have been made to me in my life that I remember crystal clear and he is the giver of one of them.  He performed our wedding ceremony and during our wedding he said to me, and all who were there, that he and my mother-in-law could not have picked out a better wife for their son.  I have thanked him on different occasions over the years for saying that and I mean it.  That statement means so much to me.  However, now that I have a son of my own, that complement has taken on new meaning.  I hope and pray I can one day say the same to Luke’s wife.  

He is a preacher.  The way I met Josh was his dad became the pastor of the church where my family had attended for many years.  I say this to say it is sort of odd to date the preacher’s son.  Cue up Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield.

the only one who could ever reach me,
was the son of a preacher man.

I recall a conversation that Joshua and I once had about his dad shortly after we began dating.  Josh said, “He is just a normal Dad.  Like yours.”  It’s true, he is, but it took a while for me to see him not only as my pastor, but as my boyfriend’s dad.  It is also sort of weird to break up with your boyfriend and then go to church and see his dad.  For the longest I thought his parents just hated me because I had broken up with their son.  I was wrong.  Very wrong.  Turns out they did not hate me at all.  Week after week he treated me just the same as he always had.

I just love listening to him preach.  In fact, a sermon he preached back when I was in high school sticks close to me today.  It was during one of his sermons that I first realized that worrying is a sin.  In God’s perfect timing, I found a tape of that sermon while cleaning out my mother’s closet after she passed away.  I took it home and listened to it again.  I think of that sermon often.  He is a great pastor and his church is blessed to have him.

I feel that my father-in-law is probably 99.9% responsible for instilling the love of sports in my Joshua.  My father-in-law is not really as sports crazy as he once was, but he is still a fan.  A fan of the Dallas Cowboys for sure!  One might want to blame him for making Josh such a sports fan, but I would like to thank him for it.  I knew when I married Joshua I was marring a sports freak and that is okay with me.  However, I also know that it is the relationship Josh has with his Dad that taught Josh how to share the love of sports with our son.  Joshua is a wonderful Dad and I contribute that to the great father he has.  



I have bragged on what a wonderful Grandpa my Dad is, and my father-in-law is an awesome Grandpa too.  Joshua and I both hate that we do not live closer to them.  It takes an extra special Grandpa to make the miles not matter and to make you feel loved and special when you are so far apart.  Luke loves his Grandpa so much.

I remember my father-in-law telling me he was a little worried when they began the drive back home last summer after coming out to pick Luke up.  He was concerned that after a few hours on the road Luke would start to miss us and be ready to turn around and go back home.  “Are you kidding me?”  I asked.  “He is SOO excited to be going with you!!!”  And he was.  He loves his Grandparents and Aunt so much and was beyond excited to be staying with them for a month last summer.  Luke did start to get homesick a little towards the end of his stay.  And his Grandpa did all he could to take Luke’s mind off of things.  It meant a lot to me.
 
My father-in-law also has a HUGE sense of humor.  See.  Have you seen your father-in-law look like this??  I laughed so hard when I saw this picture.  



Again, I credit him and thank him for passing this onto Josh.  Part of what drew me to Joshua was his sense of humor.  My father-in-law loves to play pranks on people and loves to have a good laugh.  I love hearing him laugh.  I love making him laugh.  I love his sense of humor.  I love knowing my husband received many of his traits from his dad.

And lastly, my father-in-law has been our standing Thursday night date here lately.  At around 9:30pm our time, he gives our house a call.  He is on his way home from teaching a seminary class and he talks to us to pass the time.  Joshua and I love knowing he will call.  And on the occasion that something happens and he doesn’t, we give him a hard time about it.  One Thursday night he called and I answered the phone so I was talking to him for a while.  I NEVER just give Josh the phone if I answer!!  We had been talking for 10 or 15 minutes and he realized that we had some friends over.  He quickly told me I should have told him we had company and he said it was nice talking and we got off the phone.  Our friends laughed and said it was funny that Josh’s dad would call and only talk to me.  I explained to them he felt bad for keeping me on the phone when we had friends over.  But, then I went on to say that I often talk to him on the phone for a while before handing the phone to Josh.  I love having a father-in-law I can talk to.  We have talked about everything….from nothing that matters at all to things that really do matter.  

I could not have picked a better father-in-law.

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