Happy Father's Day to Two Fantastic Men in My Life!

To My Dad...

Dear Daddykins,

I love you so much. I miss you more than you can know-even if I'm not always that great at calling home. I hope that you are having the Father's Day that you deserve. I hope you are going out for a nice, long round of golf, eating good food, getting rest, and receiving lots of hugs from the people that are around you!

You have always been a great Dad. I was thinking about it this morning as we sat in church. The message was directed to the men in the crowd, telling them to be real men, to love their kids, and to be someone that their kids could look up to. You were all of that and more. You showed your love for us constantly. You were always giving us hugs, and to this day your hug is the one that is always bound to make me cry when I am saying goodbye for what I know will be a long time. You told us you loved us at least once a day, if not more. I knew for certain that I was loved, always and I still do. You are an example of a Man of God for us. I remember walking down to your office in the mornings and seeing you reading your Bible and praying...you will never know what an impact that made upon me. I still look at you as someone that is walking the path that God has chosen for him, and I respect you and love you for it. You love Mom, boy do you ever! That was never something that I doubted, and seeing the respect and love that you showed her made me realize how much I wanted to find a man that would treat me the same way, and I have.

Daddykins, you're the best. I'm so thankful to be your daughter. I love that I look like you. I love sharing your chin and your personality. I love that we can talk about real life together, and that we are still close despite the miles. I love how your voice is always so gentle, yet says big things. I know that when I was a kid, a simple look from you said more than all of the loud words in the world could express. It's hard for me to not see those meaningful looks on a regular basis. Thank you for teaching me about God, and how to love Him. Thank you for being a wonderful example of an earthly Father, it made the idea of God as a loving Father one that was really easy to accept! Thank you for always encouraging me and helping me to believe that I could do pretty much anything I wanted to do. Thanks for supporting me when I wanted to move to California and then to Canada. I know it probably wasn't easy for you to see me go so far away, but you didn't hold me back, rather you helped me reach for my dreams.

I can't wait to see you holding our child! I have already seen what a wonderful grandpa you are to Nason and Jakin, and watching you be the same with my child will bring me more joy than I think I can even imagine.

I love you! I can't wait to see you...hopefully in August or September, but if not then, in December. Happy Father's Day to the BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!!!

To the Other Great Man in My Life...

Dear Kevin,

I know that today is one of those days for you...people keep wishing you Happy Father's Day, and although you ARE indeed a father you don't feel like you should get to celebrate it until next year, when you are able to hold our little one in your arms. I know that sometimes this whole process has been a little surreal to you, but you have been incredible.

You're going to be such an amazing Dad. I can't wait to see you in action. You are such an incredible man. I have already seen how much you love and support me, and I think that those qualities will just show up that much more with our baby.

Today in church, as Pastor Mark was talking about the kind of man you need to be to be a great father, my heart just swelled. I got tears in my eyes in the end when all of you guys stood to show your commitment to being the kind of a man your children could look up to, because I know that you are definitely going to be that man.

You are already showing your love to this little one. I won't embarrass you by sharing this morning with the world, but your words and actions were priceless, and my heart got all warm and snuggly seeing you, being a Father, already.

You are going to be that man that Mark talked about today...you are going to be a Father that makes it easy for our kids to believe in God as a wonderful Father.

I love you! Happy Father's Day...sort of!