Who you are when no one is looking
In order for someone to be an effective leader, they must be faithful with a little before they can be faithful with a lot. This is something my father has taught me. Growing up he was raised with very little. He was one of 6 kids raised by a single parent. He paid his own way through vet school, started his own business and married an amazing women who battled cancer during their dating relationship.
Throughout my life, my father has shown me the importance of never giving up when the going gets hard. His love for my mom has made me hold high standards of what I want in a husband one day. I don’t love my dad because he’s given me everything I’ve wanted or babied me as I grew up; I love my dad because he’s set an example of what it looks like to love, work hard and be an exceptional leader.
My dad is my hero. To be honest, I never went through a rebellious phase with my parents because I never needed to. They’ve given me the freedom to choose the kind of person I want to be without forcing me to be the kind of person they want me to be.
Growing up, I watched how my parents interacted with other people and with each other behind closed doors. All I can say is I want a marriage like theirs. They are a team. They admit when they’re wrong and they’re a great example of what marriage looks like when you’re in it for the long haul. They keep their promises and put family first.
I believe what your children think of you is important because they have watched you the closest. Every morning I watched my dad wake up extremely early, spend time with the Lord alongside my mother, make his coffee and joyfully leave the house to head out for another day of work.
My dads the kind of person who loves people well. Every girl deserves a dad like him. He always starts our Skype conversations with “hi baby, wow you look beautiful”.
“Dad I haven’t showered in weeks don’t you remember? I’m in Africa. I look sweaty and gross”.
“No, sweet heart, listen to me when I say you are beautiful”.
No one told my dad to tell me those things. He tells me because he has a genuine heart and cares for me.
When I was in elementary school we had Grandparents Day. My grandparents lived 7 1/2 hours away and there was no way for them to come and attend breakfast. As a young child I was heartbroken. I didn’t understand how distance worked, all I understood was that I would be one of the only kids in my class without a grandparent to hold my hand and come to this extremely important breakfast that lasted for a whole hour.
It was my dads turn to drop me off at school that morning and to my surprise, he pulled into the parking lot and turned the car off instead of pulling around the circle drive to drop me off.
My eyes widened and I was a little confused. He reached his hand to the back of his truck, grabbed a ball cap and began to put it on his head tucking in his hair.
“What are you doing dad?” I asked giggling.
“I’m taking my granddaughter to breakfast,” he answered in the worst elderly impression I had ever heard. My eyes lit up. He walked around the car, opened my door, took my hand and we walked into school together. My heart fluttered. I didn’t ask my dad to do that, he simply saw an opportunity to make a memory with me and took it. It was easy to see that my dad made everyone’s morning at breakfast as I saw person after person laughing and enjoying what my father had done for me.
Time and time again my dad has proven to be a dad that shows up and supports my siblings and I. He’s always looking to make our lives better in ways we didn’t even know would.
For many years he served on the school board teaching me about how important education is. School was extremely hard for me because of dyslexia, but because my parents displayed what hard work looks like, I desired to be a worker like them. My parents encouraged me in school and helped me find great tutors.
If you want to fully understand the education system and where it needs work, have a child who has a learning disability. I was thankful for parents who cared enough for my education they got involved to help in anyway they could.
As my dad is now a candidate for this upcoming election, I hope citizens vote for him not because he has some fancy degree, his public speaking is amazing or because someone told them they should, but because they desire someone who is genuine, kind and desires to make Texas thrive by putting its people and their families first. Believe me when I say you can trust him to be a great Texas representative – I’m the one standing behind closed doors with him. And from behind closed doors, he’s still the same honest and amazing man. I stand by him and I hope you do, too.
For more information visit lynnstucky.com or like his page on Facebook Lynn Stucky for State Representative District 64.
