My dad can beat up your dad!  Okay, maybe not beat up your dad, but in my book he beats all dads!  I grew up under the leadership of a father who followed Christ, was (and still is) a great leader, and a great family man.  Here are a few highlights you may not know about my dad:

1. He grew up dirt poor, living in a car, traveling from town to town in California, picking cotton with his family.

2. He went to 11 different elementary schools by the 5th grade due to moving with his family to pick cotton (he grew up in the depression).

3. He put himself through school on the G.I.Bill at Southwest Texas Teacher's College in San Marcos, TX.

4.  He then went on to work at NASA, during the Apollo missions, including the famous Apollo 13 mission.  By the way, there is a character in the movie that portrays my dad!  (I'm not making this up.... it’s true.... beat that!!!).

5.  One of my most vivid memories with my dad was going to a local elementary school every Friday afternoon to set up chairs for a church we attended that was just getting started.  Dad would take me with him and we would set up church together with a handful of people...little did I know that God was using this for me to one day be a church planter.

6. I used to love to flip through my dad's NIV Study Bible as a kid, to see what he marked, highlighted, circled, and what notes he wrote in the margins.  When I was 13, he bought me my own NIV Study Bible, and I still write almost all of my messages from that Bible.

I am 36 years old and I still long to know that my father approves of and supports me.

Dad, I love you.  You are my father and best friend.