Father's Day

June 2013

Several weeks before Father's Day, Abby Jane told me she thought it would be fun to decorate Daddy's car for Father's Day. I thought it was brilliant. We had schemed with one of his coworkers to establish where his car might be and what time might be good when he had no chance of passing anywhere near his car on the Friday orientation before Father's Day. Posters were made, balloons ready to go.

Then there was a massive storm that wiped out power on campus and there was an unprecedented cancelling of an orientation. Several hundred people arrange their summer schedules to attend their or their child's orientation, so handling the cancellation of such a big event was quite the undertaking. Doing it without power on campus from which to work led Jake to WiFi hop throughout the day.

We ended up finding his car at a McDonald's parking lot. I thought he was for sure humoring us to let us pull off our little secret mission. We had the most fun sneaking behind cars, decorating as fast as we could with little hands assisting, laughing a lot, nervously checking to see if he was coming out, getting encouragement from passers-by.

It turns out he had his back to us and was 1000% surprised when he came out a few hours later! He came home with balloons attached, and the girls thought it was the best thing ever.
We went to the lake for the first time that weekend, soaking in sweet time with our hero.

This guy used to enjoy alone time here and there. These days, he wakes up early, engages before his eyes are open, goes to work, comes home to shrieks, requests for tricks, people already hiding calling out to be found, jumped on for wrestling, and he goes non-stop til they're in bed.

As the only guy in a house of girls, it would be easy for him to pass off big conversations to me, but Jake never backs down from opportunities to help the girls navigate life and situations. He does not water down vocabulary or concepts for what you might try to explain to three's and a five year old. He pushes them and snuggles them, he expects big things and he appreciates learning from mistakes. He tells them we're a hiking family that does not whine while we hike.That's when he throws in "when the going get's tough, the tough get going." Another trademark phrase amongst our family is "if you want to play tough, you've got to be tough." He does not treat them like teacups- we have three girls too many to raise prissy ones- but he does show what a gentleman acts like and expects them learn ladylike behavior. His jokes have gotten exponentially cheesier with each year. They think he is hilarious. He pushes them 15 feet high on swings, teaches them about football, tells all the stories they want to hear, throws them in the pool, admires beautiful drawings and fancy ballet spins, praises each for their outward beauty while emphasizing the beauty of their hearts. Their is no opinion they value more than his. Most of all, his love of Jesus and love of worshiping Jesus is contagious, and the girls are learning what it's like to be in a household where glorifying the Lord is central. We are all Jake Gross' biggest fans.