Happy birthday, Daddy.

I am grateful God chose you to be my dad. I continually learn about life, love, God, and myself being your daughter. You live your life, and I watch. You serve your community seemingly without limits. You love the Lord, and share His words whenever someone needs to hear them. You are a smart working professional and you always try to treat people with kindness. You daily pursue and love your wife; you disciplined your kids, while giving them the space to make mistakes and grow. You cherish family traditions, and you are generous with your money and your time. It’s difficult for you to say ‘no,’ and your default in any situation is to be the peacekeeper. You are imperfect. You are human. First and foremost you are a son of God’s, you are a follower of His, and that is why you are a great dad. Not because you give us good gifts, not because we travel to fun places, not because you are funny, and not because of your job or status, but because you know God on a personal level. He’s your Source of life, your peace, your joy. Your relationship with Him seeps into every other detail of life. You raised us, talked to us, loved us, supported us, challenged us, and disciplined us out of heart saved by Grace. What a gift that is. As I’ve grown older, our relationship has changed a bit. There’s a friendship there that wasn’t there when I was six, or ten, or even fifteen. I can’t wait for my future kids (none on the horizon yet, fyi) to grow up with you in their lives. I’m thrilled to see you enter a new year, and am excited to see all God has planned.  I hope it is full of joy, rest, fun, and community.