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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Father (as in paternal parent, not God) (04/10/08)
How to Love Man


If you could list the answers for a "perfect" father's job, my father would have failed most of them.
People can have many uncontrollable habits, and his were no few in number. Some of those habits hurt others as well as him.
From the social workers point of view, or government standers He would have perhaps gone to jail or I would have been taken from the home.
I am so grateful God is in control of my life and not man, or I would have missed out on many wonderful lessons my father taught me.
When he taught me something new I always had to know why? how?, and every detail that went with it. Sometimes he had to tell me the "How?" part many times before I could do the job to his satisfaction. Not once did he expect me to do a job he was not sure I could handle. Because he would spend time instructing me how to do it, before he asked me to complete it on my own, to the best of my ability.

Most of the time he was patient, and he would answer all of the thousands of questions with great wisdom and understanding.
I was his side kick, perhaps because there were no boy's in the family.
Maybe we just had a personality that clicked, but I believe it was because, as a small child, I adored him. Spending time with him was always fun.
I knew he truly loved me.
He told stories, laughed at many things, and taught me to laugh at my own mistakes.
We hunted quail together, cut wood together, went craw fishing, skinned frog legs.
I asked him if it hurt the frogs to take the skin off their legs, and he simply replied that it was like taking their pants off.
That was ok with me, because I liked fried frog legs.
When we walked through the woods to look for a new born calf, he would show me the wonderful things nature had to offer.
There was soft moss on the north side of the tree. Small buttercups in a field, the sour taste of a plant he called "sheep sheer", and how to suck the "Honey" from a honeysuckle bush.
As I became a young lady I understood more and more about his failures and was sadden to know that the man I adored was indeed human and made mistakes.
He lost my trust at one point in my life, and even some of the respect, but he never lost my love for him.
We can choose to love a person for themselves, knowing the good and the bad, or we can grow bitter and miss all of the good they bring into your life.

My father is no longer living, but the sweet memories far outweigh the bad ones.
I would not have wanted any other father if given a choice to live my life over.
He taught me never to give up on a person just because of the adversity they may cause you from time to time.
I think he really taught me that godly love is not changed by the outward actions of a man; it must be given by God himself, placed deep with in your soul.
My father was just that, a father to me.
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This article has been read 788 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Dee Yoder
04/18/08
The person who is most often forgiving of another is a child, and as we grow up, we learn our parents aren't perfect! You wrote a tender, honest story about your beloved dad.
Jan Ackerson
04/20/08
I laughed out loud at the bit with the frog legs.

Be careful with editing--I caught "standers" for "standards", and some punctuation errors.

Keep writing with a unique voice, and you'll do just fine!