What to get Dad?

Father’s Day is just around the corner and with that always comes the question what do we get Dad? Although year after year we try, it seems often we miss the mark when it comes to finding that just right gift to celebrate our fathers.

The Keepers Ministry Team wanted to put together a list of all the great gifts we had given our own fathers or our husbands, so we decided to go straight to the source and ask them what wonderful gift from us and the children was their favorite? More often than not, we were met with blank stares from the men in our lives.

I asked my own husband, a father of three, whom I have celebrated 19 Father’s Days with, Hmmm, I’ll have to think about it, he said. Nothing comes to your mind right off? I replied. Well, he looked at the shovel in his hand he was using to dig a flower bed in our backyard, I think you may have given me this shovel for Father’s Day one year. Really? A shovel? I quickly looked around our backyard knowing there had to be something fabulous there the kids and I had thoughtfully purchased for him, something that truly honored the great husband and father he was. Aha! I spied it the hammock we had bought him a couple of Father’s Days ago. What could be nicer than a great spot to recline in your own backyard where you could put your feet up and relax under the cool shade of the trees, the king of your own castle?

What about the hammock? I asked, with a small amount of smugness, That was a really nice Father’s Day gift wasn’t it? My husband gazed toward the empty hammock, which was gently swaying in the breeze under the shade trees. Surely he must be recalling all the times he has lain there relaxing, a tall glass of ice tea in his hand, I thought.

While looking at the hammock, I remembered all the work it took my husband to get it hung in the perfect place. First, finding two trees spaced just the right distance apart, and then getting out the weed eater to clear the space under the hammock, and next, sawing off the lower hanging limbs of each tree so whoever was enjoying it wouldn’t get whacked in the face. The next hour was spent making sure it was level.

Had my husband ever even taken the time to relax in his hammock? Our gift to him had turned into another project for him to complete. I had to smile at this. That is one of the gifts the Dad in our family gives to us the gift of service. My husband loves to serve our family, no matter what day of the year it is.

Later that day my husband sat down next to me. I think the best gift you and the kids have given me is just the affirmation of knowing I am doing a good job at being a husband and a father. I can’t remember what you have given me from one year to the next, but words of affirmation always stay with me� he said with a smile.

Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Proverbs 16:24

We would love to hear your comments on favorite gifts your Dad’s have received.

(Dana serves the Keepers website as a contributing writer. Her hobbies are reading, scrapbooking and taking long nature walks with her husband and three children.)