Dear Dad

Dear Dad,
I had the absolute best time last night with you.
When Mr. Harris asked me two weeks ago to share at AWANA up in Merrill
and he said that I should bring Pancho or Nick or Shawn or you,
I knew you were the man to bring when he told me the topic: fishing.
As I prayed about what to share with the kids and God put becoming "fishers of men" on my heart, everything came together so well, thanks to your expertise in the area of fishing for fish
and your love for the all-time Fisher of Men: Jesus Christ.
Talking with you yesterday morning about our strategy and our presentation
made me more and more excited to share this special time with you.
You see, Shawn and Nick have the opportunity to spend loads of time with you
hunting and fishing and talking about hunting and fishing.
But you and I do not share those hobbies.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love hearing all your stories
and cherish my childhood as it is filled with story after story,
all unique, of how you either got the big one or it slipped through your hands.
So, the entire time was something I will remember forever.
Riding up to Merrill, listening to a few new stories
(can you believe you have some that I have not heard yet?),
getting a bit lost in the construction and then
sharing with those children about the God we both love and serve.
I could not have planned a better Monday night "date" with you.
And then at the end when you said
You are REALLY good at this, Krissy. I mean REALLY, REALLY good.
Those words are the sweetest words I have ever heard from you, Dad.
Again, don't get me wrong. I know that you are proud of me.
The look in your eye when you see me with Katrina and Samuel,
the wink when they do something silly, the chuckle at their funny comments,
all those things let me know that you are proud of me.
Yet hearing those words from your mouth to my ear.
There is not an explanation for what happened in my heart toward you last night.
I didn't think I could love you more, really.
I mean, you are the first man God placed in my life
and I am forever grateful to Him for chosing you for me.
You see, He used you to show Himself to me.
You were the one that talked to me about Jesus and showed me an
unconditional love that I am still experiencing today.
I love you mas que nunca, Dad, and I hope and pray that God blesses us with more times
when we can relish in each other's company like we did last night.