An Important Lesson from My Dad

I remember the night well.

I was in eighth grade.  We'd played a football game that Thursday evening.  A game that we lost.  I don't remember the opponent, but I remember what happened when I got home.

I didn't exactly play too well that evening.  In fact, I'd had my butt handed to me several times by an opponent who was inferior to me physically in every aspect of the game.  The only way he dominated me was because he had more heart than I did.

For my father, that was unacceptable.

He had coached football for several years before finally settling into teaching mathematics and science, and he wasn't about to let his son slack off and be beaten around by someone who had no business doing so.

Dad was waiting for me when we pulled into the driveway.

For about 15 minutes, dad put me through football practice.  I'd never been more frightened.

In that 15 minutes, I learned more about defending myself and getting away from blockers than I had ever learned at one of our team practices.

No.  Dad didn't throw any punches.  He didn't slap me around.  He actually didn't lay a hand on me.

He threw himself at me, rolling on the ground as if he were trying to block me.

I had no choice but to push him away and avoid his blocks.

Dad outweighed me by a good 100 pounds or so at the time, so it was avoid the blocks or end up hurt. 

I walked away.

And I learned my lesson. 

There was no coddling in my dad this evening.  There was no, "Aw, poor Kevin. Y'all lost the game.  Do better next time."

There was a, "If you are going to do something, you'd better work your a$$ off.  You'd better do it to the best of your ability.  If you don't, you're going to have your a$$ handed to you or you are going to get hurt.  Don't let anyone ever, ever have more heart than you do.  You may run up against someone who is more physically gifted than you, but don't ever let them beat your heart!  Don't do anything half-a$$ed!"

We never met again at night after a game.  Lesson learned.

I turned out alright as far as playing football was concerned.  Even ended up making the all-district team numerous times, including several unanimous selections.  I'm not sure I'd ever have ended up there without my dad laying a whopper of a lesson on me that night.

Now, at other times, Dad did some coddling.  He was more than willing to sit down and talk through things. He's really good at that now.  Sharing advice.  Of course, he still outweighs me, but I'm not as afraid of him physically.  If he was 15 years younger, that statement would be quite different.  :-)  Yet, in certain situations, he refuses to give sympathy.  He'll still get after me.  Most of the time, it's needed--and later, I appreciate it.

Discernment is an important quality in parenting.  My Dad had it.  I hope I am doing half the job he did.  The Lord blessed me with a great father, and for all the rest of you who appreciates your dad as much as I do, let's raise our glasses together and wish them a Happy Father's Day!