My Daddy!

Wow, this semester was quite intense! I think I warned everyone that I might be MIA for awhile and it turns out my predictions were more than correct. In some ways, I feel I have worked harder the past couple of months than I ever have, but that might not be true. Just felt like it there for awhile. Between my job as a librarian, and my new apparent position of being an on-call substitute at my school, being the school project coordinator for the MET Project, working four days a week at the Boys and Girls Club, working every other Saturday for Upward Bound, taking 6 hours of master's classes, helping my friend coordinate his school's field day, tutoring on Sunday afternoons, and planning the grand finale for the CDM education department last weekend.....I was, shall we say, busy. Many of those things are now complete or almost complete so I'm feeling much better. Now just to gear up for the summer camp....:-) I think this summer will feel like a vacation, only working ONE job and being done at 4pm everyday...I won't know what to do with myself! Hmmm, maybe do things like work out, drink water, and go to bed on time to start with!

Anyways, since it seems I have somewhat started a tradition of talking about my appreciation for various family members on this blog, I would like to take this very special day, May 25, to talk about my wonderful pops on his birthday. The older I get and the more people I meet and especially the more kids and young people I interact with, I realize more and more how blessed I was to have the dad I did growing up. The more I talk to people, I realize what a rarity it is becoming to have a stable, consistent, godly, hard-working, honorable dad in one's life...but I have always had that and I am so grateful. Now that I've been an adult for awhile, I look back at how we were raised and I just don't think my dad and mom could have done a better job...and much of that is due to my dad's hard work, sacrifice, and leadership. When I think of my dad, the three words that come to mind are hard work, character, and sacrifice. A vivid memory from my childhood is sitting in church with my dad, holding his hand, and feeling the roughness and callousness of his skin...skin that was leathery from hard manual labor. For almost 30 years, he has gotten up six days a week to carry mail all day and then head to the farm to work many days until past dark. During the summer months when irrigating, he gets up before the sun comes up and sometimes doesn't get to stop working until the sun has been down for quite awhile. I remember sometimes going to bed without seeing my dad because he was still in the field. I remember him coming in late at night, tired, dirty, and smelling like tractors, dust, and grease, but I liked that smell. He never really enjoyed his mail route job, but it was a sacrifice he made year after year in order to provide for our family. On top of these two jobs, my dad has had pretty much a third job at church all these years, being the one that in many ways holds everything together there. He taught our Bible classes, led our singing, handled the finances, and much more. He showed us the example that our faith and our church should ALWAYS come first, no matter what else was going on or what other responsibilities we may have. My dad is also one of the most honest and honorable men I have ever known. He wouldn't cheat anyone or anything half a cent even if he had the chance. He is absolutely trustworthy in every way and his example truly stands out in a world where even Christians often are blurring the lines between right and wrong, honest and dishonest, fair and unfair. My dad is a very wise manager of finances and as a result he has the ability to be quietly generous in so many ways. I also think my dad was able to strike the perfect balance in allowing my brothers and me to have an enjoyable, carefree childhood while still instilling principles of hard work and responsibility in us. He also found the perfect balance in helping us make the transition to adulthood smoothly. I went to college with kids who either had absolutely no help from their parents or else had the proverbial silver spoons in their mouths, but I was fortunately somewhere in between...I had to work and do my part, but my parents were there to help me get through my education. My dad somehow knew just how much to do to help us without becoming a crutch for us. I get emotional when I think of how much he and my mom did without over the years to be able to get into a financial position to help us get started in life, and as a result, we have all been able to become independent and productive without too much stress or struggle. Another thing I love about my dad is he always treats people right. He treats our family right, he treats people in the community right, he treats strangers right. I never heard my dad curse or talk ugly in all my years of being around him. He just minds his business, works hard, and enjoys simple things. He doesn't need attention or praise or "things" to be happy. He is very humble and quiet, but he is also very wise. I just think I have the best dad in the world and I'm more thankful all the time for him! I can't wait for this time next year when he will finally get to retire from the post office and really have time to do the things he enjoys...he has definitely earned that right more than anybody!

There is so much more to say, but most of the people who will read this already know my dad and they know that no one could really describe him the way he deserves in a couple of paragraphs. He might not even read this but I just wanted the world to know what a great man and great father Mr. Weldon Embry has been to me!! Happy birthday!!