"Just Because I Did It That Way"

So, here's a something you need to know about your dad.

Some guys think their dads can do no wrong. They define what's true by what their dads taught them, they aspire to be nothing less and nothing more than their dads, they make choices, consciously or unconsciously, by asking the question: "What would dad do?"

Those guys are wrong. Their dads make mistakes, sometimes big ones. Their dads make bad choices, have wrong opinions, and, at least, one glaring character flaw.

Some guys think their dads can do no right. They seek to be as unlike their dad as they possibly can. The smallest nugget of truth is completely compromised simply by being associated with that jerk they call dad.

Those guys are wrong. Even a broken clock is right twice a day and even the worst of dads did something right once. 

On my wedding day, my dad looked at me, smiling but serious, and said, "Don't let me hear you justifying bad behavior just because I did it that way. You be better than that. You be better than me."

That's one of the best legacies our dads can leave us. A desire to see us become good people, even if it means becoming better people than them. The freedom not to compare ourselves to them in order to attribute value. My dad is a great dad and did a lot of great things for me, but the best was to point me towards God and to say, "This is your Father. Listen to Him."

My father taught me to follow God and led by example. What that means is that there a lot of moments where my heavenly Father and earthly father would find themselves in agreement. But, in the times when they don't, my earthly father always taught me to listen to my heavenly one. And that is the best thing he ever did for me. And for that I give him thanks.