My family camps annually at Mohican State Park in the fall. It usually rains and my camper is filled with an insurmountable amount of mud. I mean, mud is just everywhere by the time we leave. However, if we are lucky and get one day of a little sunshine, it’s the most gorgeous place to be in October. A sunny day in Ohio in October has a kind of magic to it you can’t quite explain. The color of the trees with their leaves slowly falling to the ground is more gorgeous than anything a picture or painting can quite grasp.

This past year, we rolled into camp excited because the forecast was perfect! That perfect Ohio in October kind of day. Then my husband drops the news that our hitch is broken. I just want to say…no one was injured. So it wasn’t quite a dire emergency. And yet it was doom and gloom enough to threaten to ruin our trip. If we didn’t fix our hitch, get a new one, or get a new truck (my husband actually stated this as an option, haha, bless his heart!) we weren’t going to be making it out of the state park in a few days.

So, I did what every girl does when doom and gloom hits…. I called my Dad!

My Dad is, in my opinion, the All-American Dad. Always answers the phone. Rarely shows emotion. Also, I’m fairly certain he challenges himself to keep every phone conversation to less than ten spoken words. I could have said the sky was caving in and his answer would probably be the same, “Oh really?”

In fact, I could, my entire life, gauge how big a moment was based on whether or not my Dad showed any emotion at all. For instance, I have seen him shed a tear (this is not a typo, it was NOT plural, one tear) four times in my entire life.

Once when my brother was having some health issues as a child.

Once as he prepared to walk me down the aisle.

Once when he held my daughter, his first grandchild, in his arms.

And lastly, when my daughter held her baby brother for the first time.

Also let the record reflect there was a weird moment when Ernest Byner…well let’s not get into that. If you’re a Browns fan, you know.

So, anyways, as a girl who always seemed to have a tornado of emotions swirling inside me, having a dad who never seemed to have ANY emotions was a bit of a tricky relationship dynamic! The misconceptions of each other’s emotions were at the core of probably every conflict the two of us ever faced with one another. It has taken years of experience, some humility and a lot of growing up for me to finally recognize my Dad’s emotions in all the subtle ways he shows them.

Emotions, in my Dad’s world, are all action and zero discussion. For instance, he checks the pressure in my tires when I stop by his house. He gives me an entire weather report anytime I leave home even for a day trip. There is a glow and curl upward in his lips anytime his mom’s memory comes up in conversation. In contrast, he walks away as fast as he possibly can when either of my children are being disciplined. He does the same, only faster, when they start to cry when telling him goodbye.

So, of course, as expected, my Dad answers when I called him on this particular day in October. As expected, he says “Oh really?” when I tell him our hitch broke. Then he says, “You can use my truck, I’ll meet you halfway in about an hour”.

And that was that. As I hung up the phone I saw the time spent on the call was 1:21!!! Problem solved, and into action we go.

One hour later, halfway between camp and home, I crested a hill and spotted my dads truck parked at the bottom in a gas station parking lot. My brother (Dad Jr.) had come along as well. They get out of the truck, help me transfer my sleeping toddler to the new truck and hand me a bag of snacks my brother bought for us at the gas station.

As I’m telling them both “thank you”, a big semi truck pulls in.

“I better get going, I think I’m in the way here,” I said.

My brother laughs and shakes his head.

“I tried to tell Dad to park back there in an actual parking spot”

“Nope!” my Dad retorts.

“I parked right by the road so you could see that I was here!”

As I drove back to camp I got a little teared up. In less than one minute and 21 seconds, my Dad’s whole day had changed. His plans got put on hold, he decided to drive two hours round trip, hand over his truck for the whole weekend and he didn’t even complain! Instead he made sure to beat me there, buy me snacks and chose the perfect parking spot…

Just So I Could See That He Was There

A father’s love comes in all shapes and sizes and actions! Sometimes it’s hours of teaching you to throw a baseball. Sometimes it’s hugs or tears or “I love yous”. Sometimes, though, it’s something more subtle and easy to skim over like telling you to watch for deer on your way home.

God’s love is like that, too! Sometimes His love is a billboard worthy act of love via a miracle! Sometimes it’s a much more subtle sign like when the perfect song comes on the radio on a bad day. Or having a stranger give you a compliment at the exact moment you were questioning yourself.

I mean what do I know?! Maybe it isn’t God. Maybe it’s all just coincidence. Maybe that song is just your style and “Alexa” just knew that because, well you know about the algorithm. Maybe that stranger just thought you looked like you needed a compliment.

Or maybe…just maybe…God “parked” that song or “parked” that human with the compliment right where and when He did for a reason…

Just so you could see that He was there!

As we celebrate Father’s Day this week, let us challenge ourselves to not just love big, but to “park” some little, every day, real life, subtle love for our family, friends and fellow humans as well. Let us also challenge ourselves to appreciate all the ways our earthly Fathers and our Heavenly Father show us love in their very own way.

Because, when I really think about it, that subtle, to-the-point, functional, every day love…

When it is recognized for what it is, is as magical as leaves falling in Ohio on a perfect October day.

Happy Father’s Day, friends!

Safe Travels!

Morgan Rae