A Letter from Your Dad
To my two wonderful children (Penny and Jack),
While I sat down to write this letter, I thought back to my time in college as that is probably the last time I actually wrote something creative that didn’t relate to engineering or technical reports at work. If you would have asked me in college where I would be today, I don’t think I ever could have imagined how blessed I would be. Sure, I was with your mother and had a wonderful time being a newlywed, but nothing changed my life like when you came into the world.
The past few weeks have truly made me realize how important you are in my life. While you are gone for weeks at a time when I am working on our new kitchen, I feel sad, lonely, and even discouraged without you being around. I miss the house being filled with laughter and so much energy. Penny, I miss you picking out socks for me in the morning and waving good bye to me when I leave for work. Jack, I miss your always dependable smile when I come home from work and your mighty determination to get your body to crawl across the floor. I miss eating supper together and having fun conversations about the day and what we will do tomorrow.
Even though it may be tough for your mom and me at times when we need to get up in the middle of the night, care for you when you are sick, or deal with tantrums, I now understand the full meaning of Psalm 127:3:
“Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.”
Because I have you in my life and you are a blessing from God, please know how deep a love I have for you. Please know that there will be times where we disagree, where we fight, or where I have to discipline, but know that I will always love you. Before I had you, I found it difficult to understand how you could always really unconditionally love someone, but now I know.
There will be times when you don’t want to spend time with me, when you don’t like the music I listen to, or where you flat out don’t think that I am cool. That’s fine - I know there will be high points and there will be low points. However, the one thing that I pray we always agree on is our faith in Jesus as our Savior. Out of everything that I give you, that I teach you, that I pass on to you, know that Jesus is the most important. Know that he will always be there for you, will always love you, and will always care for you.
I pray that some day you will have your own children and make all of the same realizations I have. More importantly, I pray that you not only have a strong love for your children, but that you also teach them that Jesus is their Savior. My father taught me this, I have taught you this, and nothing would make me happier to see you do the same with your children.
You might already know that I’m not a very emotional person, but you truly make my life better by bringing me joy and happiness. I don’t know what I would do without you. Know that I will always love you, cherish you, and pray for you until we are with God in heaven.
Love,
Dad
Josh Schermerhorn is father to two beautiful children, Penny (2 1/2) and Jack (6 months). He works as a mechanical engineer at Emteq-- an aerospace company. He and his wife met in high school and will be married for 7 years this summer. Josh enjoys spending time with his family, watching the Packers, renovating homes, and playing the drums when he has time left over. He also enjoys volunteering at church.