I remember working on puzzles with my father, as a young child.  He was very creative and inventive—and I’m glad that sometimes he did projects with us.  I remember the box kite he made, to fly with us.

     And both my parents were very supportive of creative arts of all kinds, with my dad guiding and organizing us in putting on some neighborhood fairs in our backyard, which included handcrafts, dance, theater, and anything else we wanted to make/do.  He used his woodworking skills to make game booths for these events.  He also built a really nice playhouse for us.

     When I was older, he encouraged me in my experiments with puppetry and helped me to build a large but portable puppet theater, using wood framework with fabric.

     I liked seeing my dad’s pastel chalk artwork up on the walls, in our home.  He had drawn a beautiful rose for my mom, and also had several other pieces that were interesting to see – for example, a bagpipe player in a kilt, and a picture showing a coatrack with our coats on it.

     I admired his wood-working abilities, and the things he could make—a cradle for my first child, small portable desks for several children when beginning homeschooling, a Noah’s Ark and set of wooden animals (enthusiastically designed by him), a wooden figure Nativity set that is still used every Christmas . . . and am glad he was also willing to show me how to use a jigsaw, both as a child and again later when I wanted to make some wooden puzzles for my own children.

     Although I never understood the world of science he worked in as an electronics engineer, I am glad he shared his interests with his children.  I remember him setting up a telescope to look at the moon, and am happy that he patiently showed us how to look through it.

     He seemed to me, sometimes, as being “diplomatic”—I could imagine him being an ambassador to a foreign country or something because he was logical but also a listener.

     He gave of his skills and talents, and also gave the gift of time.  When I was a teen, he spent numerous hours with me on the tennis court, while I was working towards a “President’s Challenge” for fitness.  This was an opportunity to work on a goal (for me) while also doing something together with my dad, and I’m thankful he was willing to give his time in that way.

  He was a man who used logic and reason, but also shared with others his faith in a spiritual world.   I’m glad that he believed and trusted in God, and offered the example of his own worship of God to his children.  I will always remember the story he told us, from his short-term mission trip to Africa, when there was a drought and the people were all praying for rain, and just as they were singing the song, “How Great Thou Art,” when the words came “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,” the sky opened up with thunder and rain.