like my dad.

My dad cracked up at a statement I made tonight. When I asked him why he was laughing, he said it was because I think so much like him at times.

I had given him a copy of an email I received today in regards to a difficult situation that I've found myself involved in. I asked him to read the email, and tell me what he thought.

After he read it, I told him that I felt that I needed to respond to the message, and respond not only to the writer, but to three people in the situation at once. He asked me what I would say, and I told him where I would start. I would start by clarifying the basics of the process of discernment surrounding the situation.

And he laughed, because the question I raised is the one he would have started with too.

Somewhere along the way, without my ever really noticing it was happening, some healing has begun to happen in my relationship with my dad. We've had more conversations this week than we've had in the last year, and they've been challenging and helpful conversations. I didn't know it was happening, but I'm sure grateful that it is.

And, if I have to think like someone else, most days I'm glad it's like my dad. (Although he apologized tongue in cheek to one of my brother's and I the other day for teaching us to think independently, to weigh things carefully against scripture, and to make wise and careful decisions to the best of our abilities. He apologized because it has meant that we don't fit easily into many situations - we don't swallow what other people automatically ingest as truth. We are cautious, at times analytical. He didn't really mean to apologize. He was simply acknowledging that we are different from many of our peers. He's not sorry, just sorry that it has at times made our lives ridiculously bumpy.) Ah, well, like I said, most days I'm glad he taught us to think well!