BELATED FATHER DAY 2006

We don’t have Father day in Indonesia but we have Mother day on Dec 22th although
it isn’t big deal for Indonesian. I really don’t know why it was happened and also don’t know the history of Mother Day was born in Indonesia.

Talking about Father Day, automatically our mind will focus to Father. What does Father mean to you??? I believe there would be many options about this and this time I just want to share several good things about ‘my father’.

Some friends asked me how I could be so focus, discipline enough, good enough in study, free but straight on the line, work hard, etc. The answer is because I have seen a lot of examples from my father. As a human being, of coarse he has some minuses but I always notice the plusses he has and never count his minuses so they might not affect my life. Also he had trained me when I was still a child. Although sometimes it made me feel not comfortable but finally I know the good things always comes from the things that we have to pay before.

The most impressive thing that he ever taught me was how I had to use the time for the useful things and the several impressive acts was how he worked so hard and smart making money to reach his goal for his family needs especially for his children educations, writing very nice letters to me & my brother when he was in his duty in other countries and he called me ‘si cantik Fida’ (pretty Fida) & ‘si hitam Agus’ (Black Agus) for my brother (as a note I and my brother have different color of the skin).

But if someone asked me about what the gifts/presents you have gotten from him, this will make me confused to answer because honestly he never give me a gift/present to my B-day, Christmas, my graduation or etc. I just remember he gave me a pair of the roller skate shoes and 2 different size of shoes pairs (adult size) when I was in the elementary school as the gifts from Dutch in his first study there. With the pure wondering question, I asked him, “Why do you give me two different sizes of adult shoes that I can not use them right now?”. And he answered, “Because I want you wearing these when you are big someday and I don’t know your size for the future so I bought 2 different sizes”. And I responded him,”Yeah, but they have high heel. I am not sure I will be able to wear them someday”. Then he gave me his comment,” You will see. They will look good on you”. He was right. After many years I only could wear one pair because the other one had bigger size and we gave it to somebody. And I still have it and wear it right now. Brown shoes with high heel. It has been around 26 years already and there had been some persons told me that they liked it. That was a gift from him that I still have it till now and becomes a special memory for me. The roller skater shoes he gave me, it made me a famous roller skater in my residence area at that time.

The second gifts were many things from Dutch again as he came back from his second duty/study there. They were candies, jewelries toys, drawing books, spidols (colored pens for drawing), sweaters, magazines, etc. From drawing books & spidol I got, it made me more interested in drawing. From there I started to practice and practice and made my drawing was improved.

He also taught me how became a success person. I could catch from his explanations in my version that becoming a success person could not be made instantly. It needed discipline, focusing and working hard. It means we need healthy mental and spiritual to reach them. Then he explained how took care ourselves from our habits, food, etc and the connection to God. A bunches of advices he gave to me already and I knew it was because he wanted me becoming a success person. A success person doesn’t mean to be a rich person but it means how worth I am in the family, friends and everywhere I am, at work, organization, church, etc.

I think all of the things that he advised me I have done but actually there are something I never do it consistently like he had done before, reading a whole Bible, old and new testaments. One day he gave me an advice as a Christian should be better if I could read the whole Bible before I married and having the children. He was not sure after I married and having the children I could do it because he knew it would make me busy taking care my family. Then I asked him, ”Have you read the whole Bible too already?”. His answer was, “Yes, when I was on the sea. Every night when I got the night shift, I went to the deck, I saw the dark sky full with the stars, I said the prayer there for you and your brother because I could not watch you all the time. Most of my time as a Navy I spend a lot of time on the sea for the National duty. I asked God to watch you both. Then when I have more time I came inside and read the Bible”. His confession made me really quite, how impressed I was about how he loved me and my brother although he never said, “I love you” to us directly and I was so proud of him because in the middle of the night of his duty, he still had the time to communicate with HIM and he did it consistently. I had tried several times to read the Bible starting from the old testament. It worked just for couple days or several weeks and I gave up already. This is really truly difficult !!! It needs something ‘extra’ and I can not make it. But I believe God has seen my heart and its fruits. One day he gave me the Bible he used to read on the ship and I was little confused because the Bible still looked clean and I just saw several signs on the several verses. “It is clean enough for a Bible that you had read all already”, my little protest to him. He explained it to me, “Yeah, because I took care it very carefully when I read it. I don’t want to be dirty because it is GOD’s words”. Once again he made me so amazed. It was so contradictive with many statements I heard already from many Christians I knew. The cleaner Bible shows the owner more seldom reads it or uses it. Is it true or false?? Maybe yes or no. It depends with how the owner treats his Bible. The most important thing, this reminds me how Christ asked us not to do like Parisian did. They wanted other people knew that they were praying to God on the corner/side of the street. But Christ asked us if we pray we should go to the room and pray there.

This writing belongs to MY FATHER !!!!

BELATED HAPPY FATHER DAY


Coatesville, June 14th, 2006