ADVICE DAD NEVER GAVE YOU

Ralph Sorter

   There’s something about the preciousness of your firstborn child that makes you lodge away memories of their experiences.  Mary did it.  She treasured all the things Jesus did in her heart, scripture says.  Every parent does it.

   One in my mind’s photo album is of Kevin trying to walk out of my bedroom wearing my shoes.  They were so big on his feet he had to shuffle them forward.  Try as he might, he kept falling over.  But he kept getting back up and stepping into the shoes.  When I asked him what he was trying to do, he said, “Me Daddy!”  I remember thinking, “He’s got a long ways to go to fill those shoes.”

   Every son goes through that period of wanting to be just like Dad…every girl wants to be just like Mom.  They are always watching – defining in their mind what makes them a man or woman some day.  Shoes aren’t the important thing here…the example of the one who fills them is. 

   Pages later in my memory album I remember Rob writing me a letter (I still have it).  He said he wanted to be just like me.  I told him, “Don’t be like me…be better than me.  I’ve made too many mistakes for there to be two of me in this world.”

   Ralph Waldo Emerson put it right when he wrote: “A great man is always willing to be little.” 

   It isn’t a big stature and barking orders that make Dad stand tall in a child’s eyes.  It’s being able to sit on the floor at their level and help them tie their shoes, put the ribbon in their hair, or have them sit on your lap as you read their favorite book for the 67th time.  That special voice you use when you get to Tigger’s lines will be forever embedded in their little memory album. 

   The tallest Dad in the world doesn’t think of his own comfort first…he’s always thinking of virtues he wants instilled in his miniature legacy.

A Message from HOPE’S

Marriage & Family Ministry

ADVICE DAD NEVER GAVE YOU

Ralph Sorter

   There’s something about the preciousness of your firstborn child that makes you lodge away memories of their experiences.  Mary did it.  She treasured all the things Jesus did in her heart, scripture says.  Every parent does it.

   One in my mind’s photo album is of Kevin trying to walk out of my bedroom wearing my shoes.  They were so big on his feet he had to shuffle them forward.  Try as he might, he kept falling over.  But he kept getting back up and stepping into the shoes.  When I asked him what he was trying to do, he said, “Me Daddy!”  I remember thinking, “He’s got a long ways to go to fill those shoes.”

   Every son goes through that period of wanting to be just like Dad…every girl wants to be just like Mom.  They are always watching – defining in their mind what makes them a man or woman some day.  Shoes aren’t the important thing here…the example of the one who fills them is. 

   Pages later in my memory album I remember Rob writing me a letter (I still have it).  He said he wanted to be just like me.  I told him, “Don’t be like me…be better than me.  I’ve made too many mistakes for there to be two of me in this world.”

   Ralph Waldo Emerson put it right when he wrote: “A great man is always willing to be little.” 

   It isn’t a big stature and barking orders that make Dad stand tall in a child’s eyes.  It’s being able to sit on the floor at their level and help them tie their shoes, put the ribbon in their hair, or have them sit on your lap as you read their favorite book for the 67th time.  That special voice you use when you get to Tigger’s lines will be forever embedded in their little memory album. 

   The tallest Dad in the world doesn’t think of his own comfort first…he’s always thinking of virtues he wants instilled in his miniature legacy.

A Message from HOPE’S

Marriage & Family Ministry

ADVICE DAD NEVER GAVE YOU

Ralph Sorter

   There’s something about the preciousness of your firstborn child that makes you lodge away memories of their experiences.  Mary did it.  She treasured all the things Jesus did in her heart, scripture says.  Every parent does it.

   One in my mind’s photo album is of Kevin trying to walk out of my bedroom wearing my shoes.  They were so big on his feet he had to shuffle them forward.  Try as he might, he kept falling over.  But he kept getting back up and stepping into the shoes.  When I asked him what he was trying to do, he said, “Me Daddy!”  I remember thinking, “He’s got a long ways to go to fill those shoes.”

   Every son goes through that period of wanting to be just like Dad…every girl wants to be just like Mom.  They are always watching – defining in their mind what makes them a man or woman some day.  Shoes aren’t the important thing here…the example of the one who fills them is. 

   Pages later in my memory album I remember Rob writing me a letter (I still have it).  He said he wanted to be just like me.  I told him, “Don’t be like me…be better than me.  I’ve made too many mistakes for there to be two of me in this world.”

   Ralph Waldo Emerson put it right when he wrote: “A great man is always willing to be little.” 

   It isn’t a big stature and barking orders that make Dad stand tall in a child’s eyes.  It’s being able to sit on the floor at their level and help them tie their shoes, put the ribbon in their hair, or have them sit on your lap as you read their favorite book for the 67th time.  That special voice you use when you get to Tigger’s lines will be forever embedded in their little memory album. 

   The tallest Dad in the world doesn’t think of his own comfort first…he’s always thinking of virtues he wants instilled in his miniature legacy.

A Message from HOPE’S

Marriage & Family Ministry