Monday, June 18, 2007

A Tribute to my Dad

I was inspired after reading Dr. Haykin’s blog tribute to his father. In this day and age, there are many people who harbour bitterness towards their fathers. Some hate their father. When friends and colleagues share their sorrow and pain as a result of their experiences with their fathers, I am in shock. My experience with my father is antithetical to these experiences. My father is one of my greatest role models for godliness and manhood. My sorrow is that I fall short of his example in so many ways. Below I have listed ten things I have learned from my father…

1. Be patient. My father is a man of infinite patience; when I was a boy working with him on a project around the house, he seemed to be more interested in me learning how to do something than the job actually getting done. No matter how many bent nails, sloppy paint jobs or badly cut wood, he patiently nudged me along to do a better job next time. I am convinced I became a teacher because he taught me patience. Both my brother and sister are also teachers.

2. Do what is right: the means justify the end. My father was interested in doing things the right way, not just get the job done. Doing what is good is better than getting good results by whatever means. What a lesson!

3. Love wisdom. My father is a wise man; O to be wise like him!

4. Never be hasty. Me thinks my father is a distant relative of Treebeard from Lord of the Rings. He would never commit to a decision over the phone. If the answer is needed right away, the answer would be “no.” He took time to decide anything, and many bad decisions were avoided and good decisions were made as a result.

5. Be honest, be sincere. In my recollection, my father has never lied nor broken a promise made.

6. Treat everyone with respect, no matter the age, no matter the education, no matter the economic status, whatever.

7. Be fair.

8. Love God. My father’s relationship with God is a private and personal one. It is also a supremely important one, the source of his strength and his goodness.

9. Love and serve the church. My father has worked tirelessly to serve the body of Christ. He still serves tirelessly.

10. Persevere.

To be such a man, may God give me the grace.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like I'll be thrilled to have him be a grandad-in-law to my girls! (or is that opa-in-law?)

Keep on Jeremy, you too are a great dad. Your boys are becoming men and your daughter knows she is cherished.

By the way, if WLA is a link you visit often, how about visiting the actual building a little more frequently:-)

Jeremy W. Johnston said...

My dad truly is an anomaly. I have never met a man like him. He has been a fabulous Opa to my children; he has also been a fabulous father-in-law to Laurie. Consequently, I have no doubts he would make an excellent Opa-in-law.

The great thing about my dad is that he has taught me all these things by example, not by precept. You know, "do what I do" sort of thing. I find that I am more of a do what I say, not what I do, sort of father.

As for WLA, we plan on swinging by sometime. We love your picnic rendezvous idea. We just need to make sure old Mikey is preaching. Do you know his vacation plans?

Jer

Anonymous said...

I don't know when Mike is vacationing, but he usually does in July. I'll find out and let you know!