Dad

I've been dong a lot of thinking about my Dad. I've written several times about my Mother; she actually passed away a little over a year ago, but I've never written about Dad. Just the other day my oldest sister and I met him for breakfast. It was actually the first anniversary of Mom's death, and we talked for a while about some of the details for Dad's memorial service and reflected on Mom's life and passing. Since that time I have been thinking I should write about the character qualities of my dad that I really admire.

First of all, I admire his dedication to the Lord. That has always been the first priority in his life. He built his life around serving Christ and His church. Dad was ordained to the ministry at age 21, before he was married to our mother. Dad's whole life was spent in church ministry, even during the years he was bi-vocational. I used to say that Dad's first love was the church, and he had other jobs to support his family so he could minister in the church (those were the days before the Mennonite Church in our area supported pastors full time). Dad had a way of sharing his faith with people of all walks of life. And I believe there will be many people in heaven because of the efforts of our dad.

Secondly, I admire his devotion to our mother. He loved her deeply and was always very tender and caring with her. She was the most important person in his life, no doubt about it. Dad and Mom raised seven children together and life was busy, but they still found time to do special things together. I learned a lot about how to be a husband and how to treat a woman from my dad. Dad would not tolerate any disrespect for our mother and we knew that as we watched and listened how he respected her. Even in the year since she's gone, Dad hasn't stopped talking about how much he loved Mom. They spent nearly 68 years of life together!

I also admire how our dad loved and loves us as his children. We always knew he loved us. Of course, one of the best things he did for us was to love Mom; this provided a secure and nurturing place for us to grow and develop as his children. We knew we were loved and significant to Dad and always knew we could come to him with our problems and struggles, as well as our joys and times of celebration, and he would listen to us and care about what was important to us. I learned a lot about what it means to be a father from my dad. Even now we can talk to Dad about the challenges we face in raising our children, and we know he cares and prays for us and for his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Thanks, Dad, for all you've sacrificed for us, your family, and for the family of God. You are a special man and we all love you!

Tom Horst, MA
Marriage and Family Therapist