A man to measure all others by

Nothing beats a good dad joke. You know the one’s I’m talking about. You can’t help but shake your head and laugh at the cheesy ridiculousness of it…and then you find yourself telling the same type of joke with your friends to which they shake their head and laugh at the ridiculousness you’ve now inherited. If you know me, I’m sure you’ve heard these jokes sneak out at least a time or two J

 

When I think of someone who has made a huge impact in who I am today, my pops is one of the first people that come to mind. Basically, my dad is amazing. As I get older I’m finding that I’m more and more like him, especially as people on my team and my squad point out qualities in me that are so obviously from him. 

I know what you’re thinking…what is it that makes your dad so great? You know what, today’s your lucky day. I’ll tell you!

what to do on a lazy saturday afternoon…?  how about jump out of an airplane?!?

Taking a look at the brighter side of things…

My pops is the most positive person I’ve ever met. He’s not one of those optimists that drive you crazy because they’re pushing it on you or faking their optimism. He truly sees the best in every situation, every person and every challenge he faces. While he’s realistic about what’s going on, he comes at it with a positive perspective, which I believe can change the outcome out of a lot situations that we face. If the ending result isn’t what he hoped for, he still comes at it with a positive light and sees it as an opportunity for growth.  

What can I do??

To put it simply, he is ALWAYS wanting and willing to help anyone and everyone…no matter what, where or how late it makes him for his next appointment or event.

“I’m not late, I’m early for tomorrow” 

– his slogan, you can find this on one of his favorite t-shirts.

“Scratch that back”

We’ve actually made this a common saying on my team when one of us wants our back scratched. I told the story of how pops would stop us as we were walking through the hall at home when we were younger to say, ‘scratch that back!’ and you couldn’t say no, not because we weren’t allowed to, it was just impossible to say no to him when he asked like that.   Good stuff! J

What a guy J

A true man of God –

He’s passionate about loving God, serving God and serving His people. He’s always trying to develop and deepen his relationship with God as he lives out the life that God has created him for. My parents brought up us up in a home where we were encouraged to pursue our relationship with Christ which I’ve learned the value of more and more as I’ve been on the race. 

The ultimate family man –

He’s always worked to support and provide for our family, but never to the extent where we didn’t get every spare moment he had outside of work.   Growing up, and even now, he was always ready to take a walk in the woods, work on one of our cars, go to Cedar Point for some rollercoaster craziness, camp out or most recently jump on the giant trampoline or out of an airplane.  …which by the way dad, we are indeed going again when I get back to the states just like we talked about! 🙂 Can’t wait!

my dad, sister and i getting ready to skydive!!

Last but certainly not least, he can rock out on the drums to any tune.

My dad’s given us an amazing example of what I want my life and my family to look like. So here’s to YOU, pops!

Happy Birthday to yooou! Happy Birthday to yooou!

Happy Birthday dear, Popparonniiii!