"Oh daddy dear, you know you're still number one..."

Why are dads number one? What is it about a father that makes a world of difference in his children? I'm actually not really sure but there is scientific fact that shows that fathers really do make an incredible difference in their children's lives. I am not by any means trying to discount mothers, we already know and can agree that a mother is essential, I am only trying to show that fathers are as equally important as mothers are.

Studies have shown that children whose fathers play with and nurture their children as infants have higher IQs and receive higher grades in school. One thing I found interesting was that children with involved fathers have larger vocabularies. Why? A father doesn't babytalk as much as a mother and will use words the child doesn't know thereby expanding their vocabularies. I definitely saw that in my life. My dad is a lawyer, he loves using big words. When I would ask him what a word meant he would always tell me to look it up in the dictionary so that I would remember the definition.

Having a strong relationship with your father is also a protection. A good relationship can protect your daughter from sexual assault or abuse. I think that is a beautiful thing.

I want to give a shout out to my dad. He is truly doing his best with what he's got.

One time I asked my dad to make me a mixed CD. He put "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" as the first track. He was right about that one. I did just want to have fun and he took that into account when we was raising me. I was (am) a fun loving kid.

My dad would wrestle with me all the time. One time I stuck a piece of duct tape on his leg and ripped it off. That was one of the best victories of my life, mostly because he didn't get mad at me and we had a great family wrestling match. It was so fun.

My dad would take time off of work once a week to come to my class in second grade and read The BFG by Roald Dahl. I hated being in second grade. It was the worst year of my life. I felt picked on by my teacher and way less cool than the other kids in my class. My dad coming to read was such a relief from the stress of it all and all the students loved my dad, it helped me feel like I had something of worth to offer.

My dad has never doubted my abilities. When I said I wanted to do something (like gymnastics, photography, college, or a mission trip) he fully supported me. My dad has incited a confidence in myself that I don't think I could have gotten anywhere else.

I love him.

Can you see the resemblance!?

Cope It Up!!

One Sunday when I was about 15 years old my mom pulled me and my sister out of Sunday school to tell us that something had happened to our older sister Paige and that her and her husband were at the hospital. All we knew was that Paige was in a lot of pain and that the situation could either be extremely serious and life threatening or it could be minor and nothing to really worry about.

I immediately imagined that the worst had happened and that Paige was going to die. I couldn’t handle that. I was inconsolable. Paige was my hero. She couldn’t die. It was impossible. What if she did though? What would I do without her? How would I function?

After my parents got all of the kids together they took us into a little classroom and we kneeled down together and each of us went around in order and said a prayer for Paige. I was kneeling next to my dad, unable to say a word because of my tears. I tried, but couldn’t say a prayer out loud so I said one in my heart. I felt that Paige was going to be okay but I still couldn’t believe it until I knew for sure that she was out of danger.

We went home and waited.

It felt like an eternity before John called. He told us that Paige was going to be fine. Paige had a large cyst tangled around one of her ovaries that the doctors were going to have to remove. They didn’t know if she would still be able to have kids or how difficult it would be. The sigh of relief that it wasn’t something more serious was an audible “Thank God.” We knelt together again offered a prayer, but of thanksgiving.

This was the most traumatic day of my life. Tears come to my eyes as I think back on it. I know that without my family and without my Savior that day could have gone so much worse. 

Coping is not just something you do. It is something you prepare for. We know that disaster will strike some time or another and it is your job to put the right tools in place so that your world doesn’t get shattered. My parents had created a family bond previous to this day. As we gathered together we comforted each other. Together we strengthen one another. If something drastic had happened to Paige we would have buoyed each other up and pulled together even tighter. My parents had prepared for this day simply by having a strong relationship with each other and with their kids. They also put their trust in God.

One of the most important coping mechanisms you can have is the knowledge of your Savior and His willingness to help you. He has suffered for your sins and experienced your trials and tribulations before you ever did and He wants to comfort you and help you to keep moving forward. His love is great and His devotion to you is immeasurable. Rely on Him and He will help you.


P.s. Paige is doing great today and she has five beautiful children.