Father's Day 2021

 Father's Day is coming up this Sunday!  I love these holidays, Mother's Day and Father's Day!  I know some people say they were made by the greeting card companies, flower shops, and the candy industry.  I do believe they benefit for sure.  According to Wikipedia, this holiday was suggested as a holiday to complement Mother's Day but was ignored and failed to be implemented.  However, "the day was made a permanent national holiday when President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972," ( Father's Day (United States) - Wikipedia).  I am so glad that it was!  I think it is as special as Mother's Day.

  I am fortunate enough to still have my father alive.  My dad, Monte Siler, Sr.,  is one of the best men that I know!  He worked very hard to make a living for our family.  My mom, who he loves so much, also worked to help provide.  Along with maintaining a huge Christian school, my dad, mom, brother, and myself helped with the church, John Wesley College, Carborundum, and Wesley Place.  He was wanting us to have the best life possible.  I look back and see that I did.  I have never felt any want from the life that I had.  If anything, I feel I was, and still am, very blessed!  Not only did my dad work a lot of jobs, and very hard at that, he attended Sunday School and church.  Plus he worked at my school, so I got to see him every day.  He also helped at one time with a ministry to prisoners.  He had in recent years preached to some retirement homes, and when he can enter those places again, he will preach the Gospel.  There is no doubt in my mind where my dad stands when it comes to Jesus!  If you don't know Him, you can talk to my dad because he knows Him!  I am thankful that the Lord gave my father to me!  I am who I am today for the man that my father is!  I love him so very much <3!

  Another father that I am blessed to know is my father-in-law, Benny Kerr.  He, like my dad, worked hard all of his life!  He worked at least one second job, helped with their school, worked in a children's home, and pastored.  He preached the Gospel fervently and with full confidence of Who God is and what He can do.  Benny loves his wife to no end!  He and Carline have six children and to date 18 grandchildren.  He has faithfully served the Lord and his family, as well as many other families, with a humbleness as well as boldness of the Christian man that he is.  Benny is such a great example of selflessness.  He gives of himself so much and with a happy spirit.  I know Benson would say that he loves his father very much!  I am thankful that the Lord put Benny in Benson's life as his dad!  He taught him so much and helped him become the man he is today!  We are blessed by him and love him very much -- I especially thank him for my egg and toast!

  Lastly, I would like to say that I would not have the children I do without my Mr. Benson.  It takes a special man to have the children we do.  You see, we have 5 children.  One of them has special needs.  Sullivan was born with a rare genetic disorder that caused him brain damage.  Sullivan cannot walk on his own, for now, and can't speak.  Benson, on many occasions, has had to lift and carry Sully to different places.  He has had to get up in the middle of the night to help with changes of diapers or give bottles!  Benson has worked many long hours and come home to take care of children if I have had a meeting to go to or a Bible study.  Or he has come home so that I can go to the store -- you know, ladies, when you get that "look," and the husband says, "Hey, you need a break?"  Ok, it wasn't said like that, lol, but he has given me opportunities to refresh my spirit or fill up my cup.  He has been there to hold me when I have faced some devastating blows.  He has disciplined and hugged.  He has fished and camped with the kiddos.  He has made them waterslides and helped them have the things they need to make their lives more fun and blessed.  He has called and said those beautiful words..."You want me to pick up some pizza for supper?"  He has lifted up my spirit like no one can.  I am so thankful that I get to do this thing we call "Life" with him.  I am blessed that he is a Christian leader of our home.  I am blessed that I can hold his hand in church.  I am blessed in knowing where he stands with Jesus.  I am thankful to the Lord above for Benson.  Our lives are better for knowing him <3.  I love him so very much!

  Now, I know some of you may read this and say to yourself, "I don't have those memories of my Dad," or you may have lost your Dad or may have never known him.  For that I just say that I am so sorry for that loss!  And I know that you hear this from others, but it is so true that you can be in a place that you are not alone!  Ask Jesus to come in an fill that void that is there from the loss of a father.  He wants to fill the space in your life and be that Father, that Savior, that Friend.  I send out love and prayers for you, dear friend, if you are in that place!  I also hope in some way you may experience a bit of joy from this post or maybe a bit of healing!  I don't know what it is like to not have a Dad, but I can say that I have felt alone.  And the times I did, I called out upon the name of the Lord Jesus!  He truly is out All in AlI!  

  I have been doing these posts off and on since 2014, and I just love ending with a song.  I came across one of my favorites --  "Butterfly Kisses."  This is well worth the few minutes to listen to!  I bawled my eyes out the first time I heard this song.  I hope it and the words I have written bless you and make you feel loved!  I never mean any hurt from what I share.  If anything, I hope these words reach you where you are and bless you and lift you up!

And to my guy friends out there, I wish you the happiest Father's Day!! 

Take care!!

Love, Blessings, and {{hugs}},

Chandra