On Father's Day

I am more aware than ever of how blessed I am because of Howard. Words cannot do justice to how I feel for that man. I look at this picture of his strong arms holding Asher as he entered the arms of his Heavenly Father and it speaks volumes to my heart.

Those arms have held each of our five precious gifts as they entered this world and they held two of those babes as they left. Those arms held sweet boys as they tried to understand that their brothers would not come home. Those arms also held me more times than I can count when I carried each babe and was stricken with worry and fear. They held me as my broken body shook and trembled in grief. The muscles in those arms dug the fresh dirt at the cemetery where our sons bodies would rest in peace. To me....those arms are my sacred place.

Those arms also lift squealing children high into the air (nearly giving me a heart attack), spun me around the dance floor on our wedding day, and move furniture around incessantly when I insist on change.

Through the joy, through intense pain, and through the every day, Howard is the rock of this family. He is a leader and a role model for our children. He loves them fiercely, teaches them, disciplines them, prays with them and listens to them. He goes to work each day and pours into the lives of young men and women and comes home and pours out even more on our family. It is evident that he fills himself with God and pours it out onto everyone around him.

He values my role as a mother and places little value on material comforts. Howard reminds me daily to live in but not of this world and to just love above all else, and is a shining example of that to our children.

So, this, Father's Day weekend, I just want to praise God and thank Him for the gift he gave to our family when he blessed us with Howard. I cannot imagine a better husband or father and I am overflowing with gratitude for that man. He has his own struggles for sure, but is always seeking to be better and do better and follow God. I couldn't ask for anything more.