Thinking of my dad on this Father's day....I thought I'd share some things about my dad that had an influence on me and the person I am today.
Things I learned from my dad:
-Read the Bible.
The first thing about my dad that had an impact on me was his faith. He was not perfect, but my Dad loved God. One of the memories I have of him is seeing him in his room every night, with the Bible open in front of him on the bed.
-Pray about everything.
My dad was a prayer. He’d pray with my before softball games. He gave me bible scriptures on little pieces of paper for me to tuck into my socks during my games, and he always told me to rely on God’s strength and to give all the glory to Him.
A memory I cherish is when he was in the hospital during his last few weeks and Matt and I had just told him that we had gotten married. The first thing he did was take our hands and pray for us and our marriage. It really meant so much to me.
-Admit when you're wrong. My Dad was not good at expressing his feelings and emotions(just like me!), but he would always admit when he was wrong and apologize if he lost his temper.
-Work hard. My dad worked every single day of his life in a factory to support his family, while his brothers were always bumming money off of other people and couldn't hold a job.
Through coaching me in my pitching, he instilled in me a work ethic that I still have to this day. He would make me practice even when I didn’t feel like it. He reminded me that if I really wanted to be the best, then I had to work for it.
He always said that there was another pitcher out there practicing right at that moment who wanted it more than me. That really hit home with me and made me want to work that much harder!
-Lift! My dad is the one who first introduced me to strength training. He gave me a light set of dumbbells and showed me a few exercises to do to with them to strengthen my arm for pitching. As I got stronger, he gave me heavier dumbbells, and that’s how my love for the weights began!
If my dad hadn’t given me that first set of dumbbells when I was 13, I don’t know if I would’ve had the love for the weights that I do today that came from all those years of lifting weights in my bedroom.
I miss my Dad and think about him every day. Sometimes I still can't believe he's gone. But I’m glad that I was able to learn these things from him and that I had a dad who set a good example and who supported and loved us.
Things I learned from my dad:
-Read the Bible.
The first thing about my dad that had an impact on me was his faith. He was not perfect, but my Dad loved God. One of the memories I have of him is seeing him in his room every night, with the Bible open in front of him on the bed.
-Pray about everything.
My dad was a prayer. He’d pray with my before softball games. He gave me bible scriptures on little pieces of paper for me to tuck into my socks during my games, and he always told me to rely on God’s strength and to give all the glory to Him.
A memory I cherish is when he was in the hospital during his last few weeks and Matt and I had just told him that we had gotten married. The first thing he did was take our hands and pray for us and our marriage. It really meant so much to me.
-Admit when you're wrong. My Dad was not good at expressing his feelings and emotions(just like me!), but he would always admit when he was wrong and apologize if he lost his temper.
-Work hard. My dad worked every single day of his life in a factory to support his family, while his brothers were always bumming money off of other people and couldn't hold a job.
Through coaching me in my pitching, he instilled in me a work ethic that I still have to this day. He would make me practice even when I didn’t feel like it. He reminded me that if I really wanted to be the best, then I had to work for it.
He always said that there was another pitcher out there practicing right at that moment who wanted it more than me. That really hit home with me and made me want to work that much harder!
-Lift! My dad is the one who first introduced me to strength training. He gave me a light set of dumbbells and showed me a few exercises to do to with them to strengthen my arm for pitching. As I got stronger, he gave me heavier dumbbells, and that’s how my love for the weights began!
If my dad hadn’t given me that first set of dumbbells when I was 13, I don’t know if I would’ve had the love for the weights that I do today that came from all those years of lifting weights in my bedroom.
I miss my Dad and think about him every day. Sometimes I still can't believe he's gone. But I’m glad that I was able to learn these things from him and that I had a dad who set a good example and who supported and loved us.
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