Happy Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to the three most influential men in my life.

One inflicted the pain.

One healed it.

The third rebuilt me after.

If it weren’t for the pain, I wouldn’t be a therapist. 

I wouldn’t need Jesus. 

I wouldn’t have learned about forgiveness and not holding an offense.

My dad taught me to host angels in our home. 

He taught me how to work hard and cook with passion. 

He taught me the love of travel and meeting new people. 

He’s the sunshine in the room on his good days and was my best friend before I became an adult. 

I saw lots of tears, fear, and dread on his bad days. But the God of miracles allowed it all, so I would come to see the love of the Father through the trauma.

My husband endured all these highs and lows and taught me unconditional love despite feeling rejected, broken, and wounded. He never gave up on me, and now, 8.5 years into our marriage, he still holds the good, bad, and ugly and points my eyes to Jesus. He is the man to our son, and I wish my dad were to us. He is Christ in physical form and has countlessly picked me up when I was a hot mess. 

Watching him be a loving, patient, providing, compassionate, attentive father to our son makes me so thankful I trusted God to write my story instead of giving up on men. If I stopped trusting men after growing up in the pain of my childhood, I never would have known that godly men existed. I’m thankful that my trauma didn’t attract someone with equal trauma because God used my husband’s healthy family to show me hope for what my future family can be through His love, too. 

My husband’s father helped me discover my ministry with the Slavic community. He was rejected for speaking the truth in 2 churches and helped me stay strong when I started exposing the pain in the Slavic community that needs to be cleaned, repented of, and faced the same treatment.

He taught me to question what is taught in the church and have my relationship with Christ to know the ultimate Truth. 

He taught me what healthy fatherhood looks like through the unconditional love and acceptance he gives his children and the lost sheep he nurtures. He continuously checks in about my business and encourages me to remain a voice of truth.

He is the wisest, most courageous man I know. He keeps rising instead of letting people bring him down. He knows his value and has taught me to honor mine.

God has brought countless others into my life to restore my perception of men, including my current and previous pastor, university professor, and brother-in-law, to name a few. These men are gentle yet firm and masculine. They lead with love instead of an iron fist. They honor their wives and are the children’s world. These men earned trust over countless moments of showing up with faith, integrity, and godly character. 

To all the daddies who are breaking your children, healing them, and rebuilding them, thank you for doing God’s will and turning our eyes to Jesus.

Dear daddies, I hope you discover the love available through the Greatest Daddy of All Time.