The best dads are usually the ordinary ones.
Nothing fancy. Nothing unusual. But still: extraordinary.
I saw this in my own father. Dad is very intelligent, but he didn’t seek to make a name for himself. Like so many great dads, he gave generously of his time to others. He showed up to all of my basketball games. He taught my sister and me how to ride a bike. The simple stuff.
Beyond the basic good stuff, Dad was unusually committed to God and to prayer. One of my foremost childhood memories is of Dad eating a quick dinner on Wednesday nights. We were small-church Baptists on the coast of Maine, and as such we had a weekly prayer meeting. Dad always went. This prayer meeting wasn’t anything fancy. The pastor led a short study of a biblical teaching. The men and women would then separate and talk through prayer requests. Then they would pray for about 30 minutes. The whole event lasted roughly an hour.
But unlike today’s society, which runs a perpetual hurry-up offense, there was no countdown clock. My father and the few other men gathered took their time collecting their thoughts. They prayed with feeling and care for the small church they served. They did not offer superfast McDonald’s value-menu petitions. They addressed the Lord of heaven and earth with sobriety. They understood that they were not asking God for a mere handout. They knew they
