Happy Fathers’ Day I want to share something that only a few people know. I was once engaged to George Brett. Yes, the Kansas City baseball player. I am not sure what attracted me to him in the first place but he had all the makings of a fantastic husband. He was handsome and played baseball for starters. If that wasn’t enough, his uniform was blue and white and blue just so happened to be my favorite color. Those three things right there are real fine qualities if you are looking for a husband, right? Anyway, I was well on my way to being Mrs. George Brett. And I would have too if Mother would have just let me borrow the Volkswagen for a quick trip up to Kansas City to get his autograph. She wouldn’t. Something about me being twelve and it being illegal for me to drive a car let alone meet and marry this man of my dreams. “But, Mom, I love him! He’s the one for me.” My dream wedding would just have to wait until I got my drivers’ license…and a car. This was going to be alright since it would probably take me that long to figure out how I was going to meet this man of my dreams anyway. I guess Moms do know what’s best though because a few months later I found myself engaged to Leif Garrett, Shaun Cassidy, his older brother David and a few others along the way. It seemed like every time a new Tiger Beat magazine came out I was going to marry someone new. Thankfully for me I figured out that when you go to looking for a real husband there are a few more important qualities to look for. A few years later I did meet the man of my dreams. I had been praying for almost a year for God to send me the perfect man. I was busy working two jobs and going to college and I did not have time to waste sorting through the rift-raft. I asked God to send him and to let me know the moment I saw him. And God did. Of course, this man that God was pointing out to me was passed out on a couch surrounded by beer cans. But I knew what God was telling me beyond a shadow of a doubt when I first laid eyes on him. “Are you sure God? Are you really, really sure? Cause from where I’m standing, he looks like trouble to me. A whole lot of trouble.” I put my trust in the man upstairs and soon found myself engaged to what I thought was the party animal of the century. This man that God had hand-picked was eat up with ADD, and not only that he liked beer. Had God forgotten I was a Baptist? Late one night, I returned from out of town. My aunts had hosted a bridal shower and although it was very late in the evening I dropped the gifts off at my soon to be husband’s house for safe keeping. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up to find his bachelor party was winding down. Now don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with having a bachelor party and sowing a few remaining wild oats, but I realized it was time to have the ‘Come to Jesus Meeting’ with my beer drinking man. “Jump on, honey!” said my man as I exited my car. He was sitting on a giant wooden wire spool and explaining, “Hold on tight. This thing goes fast.” “Been drinking?” I asked, knowing the answer already. “Nope. Just this Kool-Aid. Why?” declared my fiancé as he raised the red solo cup high into the air. “Well, for starters you are outside…and naked,” I quickly pointed out to the Captain of the wooden spool. Let’s just say that was his last imaginary ride and I threw his red solo cup away. Since I had no intentions on raising my children in a bar, he got a speed course on the 12-step program. Well, actually I condensed it to one step, “You no longer drink.” And he honored my request until my children were grown. As most of you already know soon after we said, “I do!” the babies came. It was a good thing I stopped his drinking ‘cause we didn’t have time for it anyway. And besides, the beer money was needed to cover those young-uns bottoms with diapers. I remember the first time I left this man with the kids so I could run to the store for milk. I wasn’t gone twenty minutes and returned to find my 3 month old infant holding a pretzel in her tiny hands. “Oh my stars!” What was this man thinking? And he had absolutely no fashion sense when it came to dressing my toddlers either. There were many times I said, “Please tell me you didn’t let them wear that in public.” And bless my daughter’s heart because there were several church services with her dress on backwards. When he bought my three year old son a 199 piece set of Craftsman’s tools, I thought he lost his mind. I had tools scattered all over the place and my son took apart just about everything in the house. The day he attached a piece of plywood to the back of the golf cart so they could take turns pulling each other through the fields, I thought...well, never mind what I thought about that. By the time my kids got through joy-riding through the pastures, they were covered head to toe with cow patties. The first time I saw my son climbing a ladder, and following my husband onto a rooftop my heart skipped a few beats. Sometimes, against my better judgment, that man let my son follow him under houses, in attics, into the woods, out on the lakes, marshes and the Gulf of Mexico. I can still hear my saying, “Make sure you watch him and you better make sure you bring him back home in one piece.” There were many other moments of terror too. I caught my kids on tractors, four-wheelers, driving boats, toting guns, pitching tents, delivering puppies, building fences, killing snakes, climbing trees, and the list goes on and on. There were many ‘What was he thinking?’ moments before I got my kids raised. I admit while he may have not been an expert on babysitting infants, he is awesome at being a dad. And let me tell you what all those ‘what was he thinking’ moments were really all about. I have a grown son that can plant his own garden, fish, and can kill a deer. This means he can provide food for his future family if push comes to shove. He can also build or fix just about anything his tool box can handle. And yes, he still has that tool box full of Craftsman’s tools. And when most of his classmates went to Panama for their senior trip, my son took his dad’s boat out to Cat Island for a week long beach trip, without a fast food restaurant in sight. That, my friends, is a real beach vacation. I have a daughter that can stand up for her self. She knows that sometimes you have to get dirty to get the job done. She also knows a little dirt and sweat will not kill you. Although she absolutely hates yard work, she knows how to push a lawn mower and can use a weed-eater better than her mom. Not only that but she knows how to fish, too. While she may refuse touch the fish she catches, I believe she now knows how to pick out a husband that can handle that for her. They both know it is okay to sow wild oats but your work should always come first. They know what love thy neighbor means and they fully understand what trusting in God is all about. Hopefully by now they even know what it takes to be an awesome parent; they should, because I feel they witnessed it first hand. God handpicked me a good one. Happy Father’s Day. We love you!
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:23:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015