Loving Me Unconditionally

Today, being Father’s Day, is a day that can be difficult for many. Those who have lost their father and those who have never met theirs, to name a few. Maybe you’re a father who is forever missing your kid. A child who has a difficult relationship with your father, and wish you’d never met him. The point is sometimes holidays aren’t happy, but a reminder of what makes you unhappy. If this is the case I feel for you, I do. I pray you find comfort today and every day.

I want to talk about my dad for just a moment and some of the ways he has saved my life.

He kicked addiction to save me and give me a better life. He has always been my rock in the most painful times. He’s showed up at my house to run off the worst kind of guy, whatever it took to make sure addiction wouldn’t swallow me too. Helping me to save me from myself. He has loved each of my babies fiercely from the very moment he knew they were meant to be, even when I found myself alone and pregnant at seventeen.

These examples are just a few of the times he has loved me unconditionally.

A few years back my parents had decided they were moving across the country. With family in Florida and hopes of a new beginning. It’d be a quest to find rest and maybe some healing. Without thought or the slightest hesitation really, I decided they weren’t leaving, not without me. Call me impulsive or manic even, trust me it fits. I sold most everything I owned, packed my children, and traveled east.

Nearly 2,000 miles on the road.

Thirty long hours from home.

Two weeks is all it took to go into full-blown panic mode. Something was off and everything in me felt uneasy. I needed to go back home like I needed to breathe. So, I packed my bags ready to leave.

I went home. To the place, I’d always known. It took about a month for me to realize that home felt a lot less like home without my family… but I was too afraid to make the drive back by myself. Finding myself in a situation I didn’t know how to navigate I did what I had done thousands of times before and since.

I called my dad.

You’ll never guess what he did. He didn’t tell me tough luck or scold and berate me. Nope. He flew all the way across the country. No questions asked, just to get me. I needed him so he came.

In those moments on that very long drive back east, I realized what kind of parent I want to be. He is not perfect by any means, but he would do anything took just to get to me. I would cross the oceans to get to any one of my babies. In doing this I’d emulate my dad.

On a lighter note, we all decided we were ready to go home a couple of months later. To put things into perspective, I met the love of my life just four months after coming back. I will forever believe the uneasiness I felt was God’s way of saying, “Go back. You are so close to my plans. If you’d just stop running, I could show you, my hand.” In doing so, simply listening, he gave my babies such a wonderful daddy.