verbingnouns

Everything is Personal

You make some concessions when you marry at 19. Postponing college and working long hours to make ends meet are a sacrifice you may have to make when you marry so young. By the time my dad was my age, he was supporting a wife and two children by working as a jeweler. Only a few years later, he continued those jobs and added not only another child, but also started working part time as a pastor.
The fact that he did all these things may not sound impressive unless you know my dad. He can't do anything half-way. He's passionate about everything he commits to do.
He may have been working two jobs, but he always made an effort to put us first. I have countless memories of my dad reading, teaching, praying and playing with us. He still answered those phone calls which pastors sometimes get in the middle of the night. He still got up in the morning to make jewelry, but he was never too busy for us.
Many of my peers come from broken homes, or they don't know their fathers, or they're scared of their fathers, or they just don't respect their fathers. In that sense, they are not my peers. I have been richly blessed with a father who loves his wife and has spent his life caring and providing for his family. I've never spent a day worrying that my family wouldn't be together.
Besides his devotion to the family, my dad is also a man of many talents. I often joke that my parents should have their own home improvement show. Both of them excell in craftsmanship. Dad's not a jeweler anymore (he's been a full time pastor for what? 15 years, I think), but he uses the detail of a jeweler when he's woodworking or gardening or cooking. Not only is he artistic, his knowledge extends to theology, history, economics, logic, psycology, computers, and beyond. My dad could beat your dad in Trivial Pursuit anyday, but it's not like he only knows a little about each subject. Like I said before, he's passionate about everything he does.
I remember someone using the cliche excuse, "Nothing personal" one time. My dad responded by saying, "Everything is personal." That could not be more true of him. Beyond all his talents and his care for our family, he has put many years into pastoring. It's not any easy job. There have been many difficult times along the way, but he has dedicated himself to the ministry, preaching weekly, writing, starting mission churches (at least four that I can think of), running Covenant Media Foundation, and loving the people of the congregation, all the while caring for his own family as he should.
I could write on and on about the greatness of my dad, but I'll try to conclude. For as long as I can remember, my dad has had two main criteria for the men my sister and I can marry: (1) he has to be a solid Christian and (2) we have to respect him more than we respect Dad. I don't know if or when I'll get married, but if I do, he's going to have to be close to perfect for me to respect him more than I respect Dad.

Thank you Dad, for all you do. I can never repay the time or the money you've invested in me, but I'll try to make you proud.