Father's Day Reflection...

With four younger sisters and no brothers, I have spent a lot of quality time with my father. He is my hero and best friend. I Google’d my father’s name because I wanted to include a picture of him in this post, but apparently, Paul Gage is also a research computer scientist who works at Cray Supercomputers, the President of a group considered by pastors and church leaders as the premier stewardship company in America (interesting—stewardship company??), a policy analyst at the Discovery Institute, an author, and a French Artist. My father did have a few articles—press releases—about new positions he accepted with various firms along with a few U.S. patents that he holds, but no current pictures of him.

Anyhow, let’s get away from that tangent and back to the purpose of this post…

Growing up in a sea of estrogen offered frequent opportunities (and excuses) for my father and me to slip away and do 'man stuff.’ Despite the little vein under his right eye that would bulge slightly when I would need some good ole' fashioned discipline, I was never afraid of my father. We are long-time pals. He taught me how to fish, how to shoot and clean a gun, how to hunt birds and deer, how to snare gophers, how to steer a canoe, how to set up a proper campsite, how to lash, how to start a fire in the rain, how to read a map and use a compass, how to cook delicious meals in a Dutch oven, how to split and stack wood, how to lay a solid foundation, how to build a good shed, how to insulate a building, how to lay tar paper and shingles, how to landscape and plan a yard, how to plant and maintain a beautiful lawn, how to build a deck, how to seal a driveway, how to pour concrete, how to drain a sink crammed full of potato peels, how to drive a stick-shift in the snow, how to properly care for a truck, how to play ball, how to play golf, and how to use ‘yes dear’ and ‘I’m sorry’ effectively. A lot of sweat and blood went into a few of those lessons, but the majority of them were learned by a young boy idolizing his father. I look back on the high-level lessons mentioned above and smile at the fun times of the past. What is even greater is that we still have many adventures to go.

While the lessons above shaped my life and my passions, the deeper lessons, which I believe are essential for a boy to become a good man, came to me primarily through my father’s example. He taught me to serve others for the correct reason, to go the extra mile in fulfilling duties and obligations, to forgive and forget, to always give humanity more than you take, to look for the better way and do it, to consistently be engaged in helping others, to delight in the small things in all areas of life, to really listen, to always treat women with respect, to use judgment wisely, to respect nature, to be honest, to stand up for myself even when it means standing alone, to never quit no matter how hard the task may be, to be obedient to God’s laws, to cultivate and work for righteous desires, to show support and encouragement towards others, to do work correctly the first time, to spend time wisely, to be dependable and steady, to be early for everything, to take courage in trials with faith, to read good books and exercise your mind, to take time to ponder life and its current direction, to trust God, and to be a good husband and father.


My father has unlimited potential and could have done anything he wanted with his life. He could have been the big-shot CEO of a leading chemical company by devoting all of his time to the corporation, but instead and to my deep appreciation, he chose to be a husband and father.

I was asked to speak about my father last Sunday in church. Usually, individuals of my faith get about a week to prepare their speech; however, the assignments fell through and I was asked to help. I was allotted an hour to gather my thoughts and plan my talk. I was so grateful for the topic though; I went for a quick walk around the Little League fields adjacent to the church building to plan my thoughts. Afterwards, I felt around 90 percent confident and was able to deliver what I thought was a decent talk; however, words cannot express how incredible my father is. He has spent tens of thousands of hours supporting, serving, and teaching me as I have grown up. I conclude with the statement made in the beginning, he is my hero and best friend. How grateful I am for the decision that my father made; to be the dad that he didn’t have to be.