I often wonder why God has shown such favor upon my life.
Then I think, maybe it’s my gratitude.
I have to be very specific with my prayers, because it seems God answers the majority of them…within reason.
Even sometimes when there isn’t a way, He makes a way.
I try to pray everyday, and in the majority of my prayers, I’m not asking Him for something, I’m thanking Him for what I already have.
At the top of the list is my family. Especially since both of my parents, who are in their 70s, are still living, and seem to be in good health.
As Father’s Day approaches, my number one prayer is thanking God for allowing me to have my dad for another year, and another Father’s Day. I don’t take it for granted.
I couldn’t even imagine what my life would be like without my daddy.
For one, I might not be a journalist.
He taught me how to read and write when I was three. And he taught me using newspapers.
So that’s where my love of reading, writing and newspapers came from.
He always made me stay up on current events.
It didn’t matter what I was watching, or what I wanted to watch. At 5, 6 and 11, the TV was turned to the news.
I don’t have cable. I usually catch up with the news from my phone.
Even though they have WJHG and WMBB out of Panama City reporting on their area, my dad watches WCTV everyday so he can keep me informed on what’s going on in Tallahassee and Gadsden County. When those three tornadoes hit last month he called me at 6:45 a.m.–which is around the time I usually leave home to take my children to school and head to work–and told me I didn’t need to “get on that road” because bad weather was headed my way.
As the old proverb says, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”
My dad taught me how to fish before I turned five. One of my most memorable childhood memories is going fishing with him one morning and getting lost in the woods. We didn’t make it out until that night.
Not only did he teach me how to fish, he also taught me how to garden and cook.
I still call him to ask him how to cook something, or for gardening advice.
Even though he lives 2 hours away, if I get a flat tire at 3 a.m., I know if I call him he is going to answer. And he’s going to try to send help, while on his way.
I could go on and on, but there aren’t enough words to express how much I love and appreciate him.
Erin Hill