8 April 2010 marks my 10th year in the Lord and for awhile, I had been thinking what I could do to celebrate it – not in a party kind of way, but something with more meaning. I wanted to thank those whom God has used to bless, guide, teach and correct me the last 10 years and I initially wanted to take time off just to write about the key life lessons that God has taught me over the years about Him and the way He wants me to relate to those around me. But today, there is just one person on my mind, that I want to write about in thanksgiving – My Amazing Dad.
Why My Dad is Amazing (on top of the many other reasons I’ve written before)
- My dad wakes up early just to send my sister to school, and returns home after, then to give me a lift to my workplace before heading off to work
- My dad knows my all time favourite ice cream is Wall’s Magnum and 2 nights ago, he had come back with a bagful not just for me of course but for all of us.
- Since our helper left on 14 Jan this year, our family has been re-domesticated and re-doing our household chores. Apart from taking care of our own room and doing our laundry, there are also the chores for the “public” shared places, living room, kitchen , balcony and also the toilets. There are also the extra things like making breakfast and making the beds that build on top of that. My step mom was pretty amazing because when our helper left, she just assumed the duties of packing our rooms and even doing our laundry and also cleaning the place. However, due to family issues back in China, she left sometime in March for China and so it’s been my Dad , my sis and I.
March has been a crazy month of travel as I’ve been in and out of the country every alternate week so I also haven’t been home much. One evening recently, I saw my dad all limbs on the living room floor , wiping the floor. My dad is 63 yo this year, he shouldn’t be doing the menial chores! It should be Amanda or I. (I was quite affected by this visual image of my dad, after this incident, I told him that we shld draw up a roster so we take turns to clean the public areas between Amanda and I)
Not only so, I only found out today that he has been the one that has also been tidying up our room, folding the blankets and changing the sheets (initially I thought it had been Amanda). Today, Amanda had come home from school and she found her room all packed and she asked if I did it (certainly not, cos I was zonked out in medication and even then I probably would not have done it either :p) so that was when we realised that it was my dad all along.
- One evening this week, I bought some cakes from a bread shop for breakfast for Amanda and I (cos’ my Dad only likes to eat at the Kopitiam kinda of place) and one of it was a banana cake. Of all the cakes I bought, the one leftover was the banana cake so I had just eaten that for breakfast one morning on my way to work while my dad was chilling in the living room. This morning, after my dad dropped me off at the clinic to see a doctor, he disappeared somewhere because when I came home, he was nowhere to be found. When he came home subsequently, he proudly and loudly announced that he had bought these banana cakes and that I should eat them cos they are really nice (they are!). I think my dad had thought I really liked banana cake so he went and bought me some!! How awesome is he?!?!
- When I was in India last week, my dad had sent an sms to ask me when I was coming back and if I’d be back by Sat night (I had to extend my trip unexpectedly when I was there). When I got his sms (in chinese), i just felt so sad inside, and I really wanted to go home.
I asked him why and he said it was because he wanted to celebrate my promotion! I hadn’t even thought about that. An sms conversation in Eng/Ch ensued:
Me:“Where would you like to eat? “
Dad: “let’s have shark’s fin and abalone at Thai restaurant“
Me: “Wah, so kua1 zhang1 (exaggerated)! It’s not my favourite but I don’t mind it also” (shark’s fin and abalone are usually expensive items that Chinese eat for very special occasions like weddings etc)
Dad: “It’s a special occasion , it’s ok to eat something special like this, once in awhile”
Honestly, that just made me want to go home even more!! but I couldn’t L
I am sure I have missed out many many other smaller things that my dad has done for me and my family (he even researched on the house and the neighbourhood that Gary and Selina were planning to live in to give his feedback and concerns!), but already just stating the things he's done the last week is overwhelming for me. I am SO loved.
I realize that because of the love of the men God has placed in my life- my dad and my brother, I have grown up secure and clear-minded in the area of romantic relationships . While like any other girl, I had my dreams of my own fairy tale romance growing up, I was never needy for a relationship nor the type to rush into one, no matter how deeply attracted I was to another. Attraction/crushes and love were 2 very clear categories for me. I think subconsciously, their love in service - quiet and thoughtful ways, gave me the knowledge that I was valued and of a certain value (no matter how lowly I thought of myself – like any teenager, I had self esteem issues too) and that it wouldn’t be right to let another guy to treat me any less. My dad, and my brother who takes after him in many ways, have truly set the standard for me in how family men should treat the women in their lives.
My father is not an eloquent bible teacher, he doesn’t read Greek or exegete scriptures. He probably does not even recognise all the books of the Bible. In fact, sometimes he falls asleep during church service (and that’s got nothing to do with the preaching really. He fell asleep during Avatar too). My father is far from perfect, but there is no one else in my life that has shown me the love and servanthood of Christ as much as my father has.
While I only received Christ formally on the 8 April 2000, Christ’s goodness and lovingkindness has followed me since I was conceived and born through the lives of my dad and mum. I am so grateful for my dad, because in his life, I have seen God’s love in action every day of my life, many times silently, humbly without calling attention to self or demanding reciprocity. In my father’s love, I have caught beautiful glimpses of the love my heavenly Father has for me.
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