Hyvaa isanpaivaa isi!
Tomorrow will be Fathers day in Finland.
I have the best dad in the whole world!
And here are just few reason...
My dad has always been a great example for me.
Who I am today is largely because of the father I have ...
...and mother...
but today it is all about my dad :)
My dad is a hard worker.
He is a very skilled carpenter and he can build almost anything.
When I needed a desk or bookshelf, my dad made it for me.
Anything that broke he could fix...whether a house or a car...
I learned to make my own Christmas presents in the wood shop,
fix things and built things...
and to this day I am grateful for that.
When I was about 10 years old I had a friend over for a sleepover. My dad was pulling old wall paper off and our entire family joined in to help. My friend exclaimed: " This is so much fun!!!". That moment I felt so proud of my family and that we had such fun working together.
I had company at our house recently. Something broke, and my friend told my kids:"Maybe your dad can fix it when he comes home." My kids had a confused look on their face, and one of them said: "Or mom can just fix it right now."
My father is a man of faith!
He taught me to have faith in God and to serve Him diligently.
Growing up we never had a car that actually worked....continuously.
Money was tight and work was hard to come by.
We lived about 15 miles from the closest town where we attended our church.
Occasionally the car would not start, and my dad would have to be creative how to get to church. Mom would stay home with babies,
and dad would go to church and take either my brother or I with him.
I vividly remember one time when I went to church with my dad.
I was about six years old.
We took a shortcut...by canoe, hiking and by bike.
We lived by a lake, so we crossed the lake by our canoe,
and dad had his bike with him.
Then we hiked across the forest, about a mile, my dad carrying his bike.
Once we got to the highway he would ride his bike, and I sat on the back of the bike.
It was about 10 mile bike ride.
This is how I learned that attending a church is important.
Sometimes people wonder why I make such an effort to attend the church...even on vacations...
it is because how I was raised,
it continues to bless my life,
and the lives of my children to this day.
My dad taught me forgiveness and patience.
When I was in middle school, my friend and I like to be a little adventurous.
We liked to hitch hike to a town 45 miles away and have some fun.
Hitch hiking of course was against the rules in my home,
but as a teenager I was not always a very good rule follower.
One day we had a day off from school so we decided to go to town.
We caught a bus there, and went to the movies.
Once the movie was over our plan was to take a bus back, and then to hitch hike the last 10 miles
(bus did not go to all way to the remote place where we lived).
Everything went according to the plan until we got off from the bus.
It was winter, cold (like it tends to be in Finland on November)
and pitch dark.
It was about 10 p.m.
and then it started to drizzle water/snow...
We were standing by the road, hoping for a car to come, somebody to give us a ride...
but there was nothing!
After what seemed like a long time a car approach us...from a direction where we were going.
It was my dad.
He had come looking for us.
I was so happy to see him!
It was so nice to finally get to my warm, cozy bed.
Next morning there was no mention of my adventure.
No lecture of the dangerous of hitch hiking, no punishment of any kind.
I am sure my parents talked it over and decided that I had learned my lesson.
But most of all, I learned a lesson how to be a better parent myself one day.
How to teach my own children with love, example and respect.
My dad taught me to take responsibility of my own actions.
I graduated from middle school when I was sixteen years old.
I was moving away from home.
I was to attend the High School of Music and Arts about 150 miles away from my home.
Few days before I moved I was sitting in a car with my dad. I can still remember exact spot where we were driving.
My dad told me: "We have taught you a right from wrong, and now it is up to you to make the decisions."
I will never forget that.
There were times when I made wrong decisions, made wrong choices, but I always knew that it was up to me. I had to take responsibility of my own life and how I lived it.
Now I have my own family. A great husband and four amazing children.
Sometimes I struggle to know how to handle different situations,
how to be a good mother and a good wife,
but all I need to do is look back to my own parents and how they taught me,
how they raised me.
It is like reading the best parenting book in the world!
Kiitos isi kaikesta! Ja oikein hyvaa isanpaivaa!
Rakkaudella
Reina
