As you all know – yesterday was Father’s Day. Hopefully you got to spend time celebrating the amazing dad in your life. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman and I follow a lot of sites that focus on women, but I feel like dad’s can sometimes miss out on the praise they also deserve. It feels to me like we constantly celebrate the working mom or find ourselves amazed by the creativity and craftiness of the stay at home mom. And they do deserve to  be acknowledged! But how often do we really see posts about amazing dads? I know they’re out there… I just think they can easily get lost in the sea of conversations about moms. So I’m going to talk about my dad today. Because, personally, I think he’s pretty amazing, and I know a lot of people who agree with me.

First things first – I’m definitely a daddy’s girl. There are a lot of things about me that I learned or got from my mom, but there are just as many things that define me that I acquired from my dad. My parents have done an excellent job of leading by example and they started that early in our lives. For as long as I can remember – my dad has been an incredibly hard working man. When I was little he worked a lot, even traveling out of the country to Mexico and Wales. And now he travels all over the state providing impeccable care to his clients.

In fact, he is the reason I started up my own business without fear. Not because I thought – if he can do it, I can do it. But because I saw it was possible. He has shown me the importance of gathering all the knowledge you can about what you do so that you can take the best care of your customers as possible. He has shown me the value of quality and that you should take pride in your work. He is the reason I constantly strive to learn more, to keep growing in my craft, and to find ways to better care for my clients and my family.

Through his example he shows me how to love a family. I see the way he loves my mother, and that was something I looked for when finding my husband. And as the years go by I see their love deepen and grow and it’s a beautiful thing to behold. And I love how he is always protective of her. He always made certain we kids treated her with the respect she deserved… and when we didn’t – he showed us the firm love we needed to see the error in our ways. In our school days, we was always at our sporting events or recitals or competitions. And he has always let us know he is proud of us.

He shows me what compassion and generosity looks like in the way he so willing reaches out to help others and gives of himself, his talents, his time, and his money. He has taught me how to be a good listener. That sometimes people just need to speak their mind and just want you to listen. And he has taught me the value of carefully chosen words and how the right words can make a huge impact on a person’s life. He is someone who’s opinion I value incredibly and I know that I can go to him whenever I have a nagging question or an issue and he will give me the best advice. His laughter is one of my favorite sounds in the world and I love the days he laughs so hard he cries. And he constantly reminds me of what it means to follow God’s path and live a Christian life.

I know that not everyone is blessed with outstanding parents, and I know that there are some celebrating this Father’s Day without their dad her with them, and my heart goes out to them so so much! I constantly find myself feeling exceedingly blessed for the amazing parents I have. Parents who were married, loved each other, and made a conscious decision to have kids. Parents who are still married and still love one another. I think those things are so important for kids and I know how lucky I am. And I certainly hope that my dad knows what an amazing example he continues to set for me. A Happy Belated Fathers Day to all the Fathers out there!