Happy Father’s Day to you all! This is such a special day that gives us wonderful opportunities to give tribute to the men in our life. I am thankful for my dad and my father-in-law. I am also thankful to the men who were like spiritual fathers to me over the years- teachers, youth pastors, principals. There are so many people that have had such an influence on my life over the years. However, that is not the purpose of this post.

I have found him whom my soul loves.  Song of Solomon 3:4

I am so in love with my husband. I will be forever thankful that God brought us together. This is a fabulous chance to give honor where honor is due.

I have spent more of my life with him than I have without him, and that is a great feeling. He is the man that has taught me what  marriage should look like. He has loved me at my worst and never doubted me. He has given me self confidence and an amazing life. He has always encouraged me to chase my dreams and have faith that God will work the details out.

The type of father that he is would put the majority of people to shame. Seriously, he loves his kids. I should say he loves his family with all that he is. He is active in every aspect of all of our lives. He shuffles kids to practices and reads them Bible stories. He has taught them not only life skills, but the most important skill. He has taught them to pray and the power of prayer. Our kids first instinct when they fall and scrape their knee or have a stomach ache is to pray. It melts my heart. He is teaching them by example to believe for big things and to walk out their faith. My seven year old has walked up to strangers downtown and prayed for them. ( I was never even exposed to anything like that until I was a teenager).  He is a strong spiritual leader that seeks God and takes his calling seriously and passionately. He serves with all that he is and sets the example with doing the “dirty work”. He is a leader that will be down in the dirt with you getting the work done- not supervising only.

The fact that we have the privilege to serve as a family in our church is such a blessing. We do life as a unit. Our kids are often the first volunteers at events and the last ones at clean up. Again, they learn by example. We all know that instilling a servants heart in our children requires a lifestyle, not just a planned opportunity that is scheduled once a month.  We work hard and we play hard– all as a family. Our kids know better than to try and play us against each other. We are a united front and some people probably think that we over communicate…if that is even a real thing. We talk all the time throughout the day- every decision is ours to make together. I am so thankful for that mutual respect and love. Sadly, I see people all around me that don’t have that in their relationships and it makes me love my husband even more.

Today, I had the honor of watching him preach in our main service. He has preached many times and I am always so proud. There is something about watching him in his element….seeing him so passionate about his calling. I watched him this morning pray over each and every man in our service. I watch him on Wednesdays pour his heart out to make a difference in the lives of students. He gladly goes on his day off to have devotions at the highschool and serve as chaplain for the football team. It is very unlikely  for us to be out anywhere- movies, restaurants, shopping- and not have someone approach him and say “Hey, Pastor Otis”! As I am typing this, he is sitting across the room from me. Our living room is full of young people and they are watching the basketball game. They are cheering and laughing and being loud. I love it.

I can’t fathom my life without him. To think ‘what if’ and ponder where I would be if we were not together brings tears to my eyes. I think back on all of the life that we have lived together and am so thankful for the memories. I look forward to the future and know that the best is yet to come. The Lord has given us some pretty big dreams and it is so exciting to watch as those very dreams are coming to pass. There is absolutely no one that I would rather walk thru life with. Don’t get me wrong- he drives me crazy sometimes, but I know that is because no one has complete access to me like he does. I am grateful for the legacy that He is leaving for our children.

My home, life, and heart are all overflowing. Thank you, Otis. Happy Father’s Day. Thank you for all that you do. You manage to make me fall for you day after day after day. Thank you for the husband and father that you are. Thank you for being your amazing self. Don’t ever doubt yourself- you are spectacular and I love you.