I am blessed!  I had such a wonderful Father.  He was always there for me; always cheered for me; was ready to listen to me and advise me.  I knew he loved me and though he has been gone, for 20 years now, I still miss him.  As we celebrate Father's Day I now feel honored to be the father for two adult children:  Beth and John.  Both turned out to be wonderful adults who are responsible, creative, talented, fun to be with, and (most important) truly love the Lord.  I wish I could say that this was all a result of my wonderful efforts, but the truth is, as a busy pastor and family therapist I was distracted too much of the time.  Fortunately, I have a wife who carried much of the parenting burden and I now benefit, in wonderful ways, from her dedication and effort.  But the blessing of being a father, and the opportunity to be a support, encourager, and role model is not over.  As long as I am alive there is always the possibility for me to influence the next generation in a positive way...

When you live in Oklahoma you get used to facing "storm season."  The last part of April through June is when we are  usually "on watch" for stormy weather.  But storms can occur, in various forms, almost any time of the year.  Sometimes they are wind and hail storms; sometimes they are snow and sleet storms; sometimes they are "storms" of heat and drought.  Whatever the form, they are a force to be dealt with and they remind us that in terms of life, storms come in many ways...