Preside, Provide and Protect With Love

Yesterday I had Sharing Time again. And this years theme is "My Eternal Family" and this month they are teaching about each persons' role and responsibility in a family. I got to teach about dads. (insert tears here) This lesson was so sweet, I chose to present it in a really fun way. I asked a friends husband who likes to surf, skate, play ice hockey... and is a doctor. And I asked him to bring one church shoe, a work shoe, a slipper and a "sporty" shoe (he brought an hockey skate) and he talked about the different roles he plays wearing the different shoes.
In church shoes, he gives blessings and presides over his family. With the work shoes on he provides food and shelter and gets to help people and set an example for his kids. With the slipper he tucks his kids into bed at night and protects them from scary dreams and with the hockey skate he teaches his kids fun things and gets to spend time loving his family.
Then I handed out a little note for each of the kids to stick in their dads shoes... they loved it.
I shared one experience about my own dad... he always protected us. Everynight after everyone was in bed he checked on us all to make sure we were alseep, if we weren't he told us we better hurry, then he would walk around the house and check every door and window. We never felt scared... EVER, we knew our dad had done everything he could to protect us. He received the Priesthood a few years before he passed, and was never able to give me a blessing, but now that I think about it... he was my blessing.

Even during the hardest times, I now know he did everything with love and gave us all he could.

I am grateful my babies will have this type of man in their lives, always. I am also grateful that the two men I love the most are such great examples of this.