our fathers' love

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to both of our fathers.
The impact you have on our lives is alive and well every single day.
I am the wife I am because of what my dad taught me about how a woman should be treated.
Philip is the husband he is because because of what his father modeled and taught him about how to treat a woman and how to be a godly leader of a household.

Without either of our fathers, our marriage and our day-to-day life would be radically different.  It is a kind of different I wouldn't want to even imagine.

In a world where having a stable father figure is becoming the exception rather than the norm, we count ourselves blessed beyond words to have the two of you.  Thank you.

We don't deserve you.  We could never repay you.  Thank you for giving each of us very tangible pictures of Christ's love and sacrifice for us.  Your love humbles us.

===========================================

While we couldn't be with our dads today :(  [BOO!]  we were able to get away and have a "margin" weekend.  We went up to NJ/NYC to visit Klingens while they were back on the east coast doing some support raising while Keith is on break from seminary.  It was wonderful to reconnect.  We left DC around 6 on Friday when I was done with class.  We got to Keith's parents' house in NJ around 11:30.  Saturday morning we woke up and went out for some delicious Jersey bagles (mmmm) and headed into the city.

We checked into the hotel (it was in midtown right next to the United Nations so a pretty cool spot. . . I was able to score an awesome deal on an unlisted hotel on expedia.com since we didn't have to be super picky about exactly where in the city we stayed) and then hit the town.

the view from our hotel room

We meandered through Times Square and did the Empire State Bldg. before Keith & Shannon (and baby klingen!!!!!) had to head back to NJ.  After we bid our farewell, Philip and I enjoyed a beautiful walk through Central Park. 

The first time i came to NY I was 16.  I decided there and then that I wanted to be kissed on the top of the Empire State Building before I died.  Well, I was able to check that off of my life bucket list this weekend.  Outstanding.

We headed home today.  The alignment on the car is whacked out so one of the tires got really worn down (like you could see the metal), so we had to stop in PA and change it.  I was thankful that happened when Philip was with me (I've changed plenty of tires but when there are car issues I would rather enjoy one of the perks of being a married woman:  having a man to come to my rescue) and could take care of it :)  We weren't the only ppl with tire issues today.  When we were about 10 miles from home I grabbed Philip's arm and told him to slow down as I watched a car hit a middle median and careen across 5 lanes of traffic to smash into the barrier on the side of the road (it was a miracle there wasn't a huge pileup).  We stopped.  They were okay other than some lacerations that needed stitching up but talk about making your heart stop.  It made me grateful that we just had to change a tire (their accident was caused by a tire blow-out, so it could have just as easily happened to us!)

We finally made it home, and I've been resisting gearing up and preparing for another busy week. . . but ready or not, here it comes. . .