I recall many fond and not so fond memories on Father’s Day. The attached picture was taken in the last few seconds of my father’s life. A very very fond memory. The fondest memories were how he always worked his butt off to support a family and help fuel the fire to allow me to pursue my dreams. The not so fond was when I was rightfully disciplined for doing wrong and those times that I ignored or scoffed at his wisdom.
Mark Twain once said “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”
The wisdom and counsel of my late father carries me to this day. In recent years, I had been unemployed in a 12-month period. What was I to do? I didn’t give in, my father always has been self- employed and self- sufficient. That is what drove and inspired me to make a career to real estate.
By my father’s example, I learned the qualities and characteristics of perseverance through trials and tough times. This is the first time in my lifetime that I have not been on a salary, neither had my father ever been on a salary. I’m reminded of the Apostle Paul teaching in I Timothy 5:8 “If anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” The bible if full of examples and approval of industry, productivity and stewardship.
Happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers out there. My father gave me the greatest gift in the fact that he believed in me. May you also give this gift to your children. Please let the recent opinion article in the Wall Street Journal encourage you as you continue to grow and prosper in the endeavors of your fatherhood.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-fathers-lesson-keep-the-spirit-level-1529018196
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