Growing up, my dad always told me to watch how the boys I dated, treated their mother. He would say, “If they treat their mother good, then they will treat you good.” My dad is a great example of how a man should treat a woman. I always knew that the way he treated my mother, was the way I wanted to be treated when I grew up! Just like a princess.
Here are some of the life lessons I learned from my Dad, and still witness to this day in their marriage.
#1 – They always hold hands wherever they go!
#2 – They always hold hands during prayers.
#3 – My dad always opens my mother’s door getting IN the car and OUT of the car.
I’ll be honest, there were times this drove me crazy! I was a young girl on a mission and I wanted to get there fast! To wait for my dad to walk ALL the way around the car to get my mom out was past my patience then. Now I see how endearing that is, and how special their relationship is because of this. They slow down to think of each other! SOO IMPORTANT!
#4 – My dad honors his priesthood and always thought of it as a privilege to give blessings.
#5 – My dad serves my mother. I am always seeing him helping her in the kitchen whenever she needs it.
#6 – We were never allowed to sit in between them in church, or in the car. Even if it meant my mom riding in the middle on the hump in our suburban!
#7 – We were never allowed to sleep between them when we were scared at night. We found our spot on the floor on my mother’s side, where she would hold our hand.
#8 – He would always tell us kids that we had a wonderful mother! I never have heard him speak negatively about her.
#9 – He had zero tolerance for any kind of disrespect we may have shown our mom!
#10 – He loved, still loves her and will always love her, because that is the kind of man he is.
Through the best of times, through the worst of times, he is there because their relationship is something they work on daily!
During my growing up years, I never realized how lucky I was to have a father who loved and cherished his wife. I didn’t realized how blessed I was to have a mother and father in the home who taught me of Jesus Christ. Who instilled in me the truth that I am a daughter of our Heavenly Father! I just thought it was normal. Now as a mother with my own kids, and I see the world how it truly is, my gratitude of being raised in the home I was in, only increases! (Here is an article of 10 common traits in happy marriages)
I realize now how blessed I was to grow up in the family I grew up with! It all began when a righteous, hardworking, kind, respectful man fell in love with my mother. For this I am forever grateful!
Hug your father if he is by you, call him if he is far, think of him if he has passed on. Mostly thank your Heavenly Father, for allowing you to have the father you have.