Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday, and all of us kids wrote poems for him.

Kyun:
Life of Devotion
To God, To Wife, To Children
Great Model for All

Connie:
My dad’s name is Mack,
His mind is sharp as a tack,
He fixes everything himself and is ever so handy,
He started wearing flannel long before it was trendy.

He loves to go fishing,
And also loves gardening,
He picked up woodworking,
And even acupuncturing.

I love, respect, and admire my dad,
I’m sorry I ever made him mad,
He loves the Lord dearly,
And he is my hero, clearly.

Gary:
My da is...
A farmer in the city,
A stargazer when its pretty,
A cyclist and a logger,
but flat-footed, definitely not a jogger.
He's the quiet disciplinarian
with a louder laugh in comparison,
to all the times I was beat.
My da loves me nonetheless, I know its not an easy feat.

My dieh is...
A fisherman and captain,
Even if we run aground in the Key or in the Sound,
a flashlight in the water, Oops there's the ground!
And when I was in a pinch,
by the claw of a crab, that grinch,
My dieh swooped to the rescue, for him, pft, such a cinch.
From that moment on I knew
my dieh would protect me, always,
It's true!

My father is...
A godly, well-respected man
He serves people by his hand
And through walk, not just talk,
A daily lesson is always taught
that more important than self or wealth
is reliance on God, for spiritual health.

So happy birthday to you, my da, dieh, and father.

Piper:
I was a little intimidated by him at first,
because he was so much quieter compared to mom,
and always so calm.

I was worried to offend him by saying anything wrong,
because he seemed so serious,
and I am often delirious.

But today, that is no longer the case.

I now know he likes sweet things like ice cream,
and building a log cabin is his dream

He prefers not having to dress up in formal wear,
comfort and baseball hats are his signature

He is smart and handy,
has drawers of oriental herbs and a garage full of nice tools

He's gone through books and books of sudoku,
is ever so patient as he claps his hands for his granddaughter, and feeds her when she's bawling out-of-control

He is my father-in-law,
a super cool grandfather
a man who is dedicated to the Lord.

We love you! K, C, G, & P