Happy Father’s Day!

In honor of Father’s Day, I want to share a few of the things I’ve learned from my dad over the years.

One of the most important things I learned from my dad was to serve. When we were younger, my dad would take my siblings and I to the homes of elderly neighbors. We would visit with them and hear all about their children and grandchildren and life stories. And then we would mow their yards and do whatever housework we could help out with. Truth be told… I really didn’t like this growing up. But… truth be told now, I am so grateful for it. My dad introduced me to what it really means to serve those in our communities. To look after the widows and helpless. To love and serve and listen without expecting anything in return.

I also learned from my dad that it’s never too late to follow a dream. He was in his 40′s when he left his career managing restaurants and went back to college to finish a degree he had quit on 20 years prior. It was while he was in college in his 40′s that he and my mom decided to move our family overseas.

I’ve heard it said that the best way to show love to your children is to love their mother. And he does that. My mom could certainly hold her own when we were growing up (she wasn’t exactly a damsel in distress waiting for dad to do the disciplining), but Lord help the child who spoke disrespectfully to our mother in front of our father. He loves her, defends her, respects her, and cherishes her.

My dad isn’t a super emotive kind of man. He doesn’t cry much or get overly exuberant. He’s steady and often quiet. Unless of course you start talking about God or China… in which case he has plenty to say. I will say, that watching my dad become a grandfather has been fun. Where he might have been more reserved before, he acts silly in order to get a laugh from a grandchild. {exhibit A: the pink furry scarf on his head // exhibit B: all six of his grandkids}

My parents with their five children, three son-in-laws, one daughter-in-law, and six grandchildren.  {I know I use this family picture all the time, but it just makes me laugh so much… can’t help it, haha!}

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

Aunt Jane’s Words of Wisdom

On Sunday, while my parents were here, we went to visit my Aunt Jane. She isn’t actually related to me, but I’ve grown up always knowing her as “Aunt Jane.” She was one of my grandmother’s best friends and has loved my mom since she was born and in turn has loved me since I was born.

Me with Aunt Jane in 2008

While we were visiting with her on Sunday, she made an offhanded comment about hospitality when she was my age. She mentioned inviting new people over to her home for tuna fish salad or bologna sandwiches. They were poor and all their friends were poor, but it was never about eating gourmet dinners. It was about spending time together. Living together in community. Sharing what they had. Not being embarrassed if their home wasn’t the best decorated or the cleanest. She talked about how it was such a simple time.

My head was spinning the whole time she was talking. I thought about how I scrub every inch of my house when people are coming over for the first time. I thought about how I stress over making a meal that everyone will not only enjoy, but LOVE. And I thought about how the only one putting all this pressure on me to do these things is… myself. My thoughts were still in a jumble until earlier this week when I was reading Angela’s latest blog post. She shared a quote from the book Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist which I am in turn going to share with you guys:

“But entertaining isn’t a sport or a competition.  It’s an act of love, if you let it be.  You can twist it and turn it into anything you want—a way to show off your house, a way to compete with your friends, a way to earn love and approval.  Or you can decide that every time you open the door, it’s an act of love, not performance or competition or striving.  You can decide that every time people gather around your table, your goal is nourishment, not neurotic proving.  You can decide.” (page 195)

After reading her post, I realized how much I resonated with it. I honestly cannot imagine serving bologna sandwiches to a group of people the first time they enter my house. But why not? Maybe not bologna, but what about the staples I do always have on hand? Like a turkey sandwich or granola. Simple. More concerned with being together than preparing a feast.

I will say I am pretty lax about cleaning/cooking when it comes to people who are at my house frequently. Our closest friends, family, and my teen girls have all seen our house when it isn’t perfect and eaten what I had on hand that day. But the first time someone comes to visit our house, I really do go way overboard with trying to be sure everything is perfect.

I do love to cook. I don’t plan to stop making a delicious meal for days when we have company, but I want to be better about inviting someone who is hungry home at the drop of a hat. Even if it means that they see my house when it’s messy and are stuck eating turkey sandwiches with us. Because it really is about relationships and community, not just the food we share.

Puppies and Parents

What do puppies and my parents have to do with each other? Pretty much nothing – except for the fact that I have photos of both to share today! My parents were in town on Sunday so I got to see them!

With my parents

The shot on the right is possibly the one and only photo that has been taken where my mom is taller than me (she’s standing on a step behind me) since oh, you know, the end of the 1990s when I outgrew her.

Aaand this past week we have been dog sitting for some of our friends who’ve been out of town.

Mabel

One of the best things about dog sitting is that Oreo has a friend to play with! {Ps. I know Mabel doesn’t look excited here, but most of the time she was the one instigating play with Oreo! So really she was having fun!}

Oh, they are just the cutest!

Mabel went home last night so now Oreo is sleeping off the after-effects of a week of play.