What M.D. Really Means (Or Why We Celebrate Our Daddy Every Day!)

 Eleven years ago this month, I had taken him out for breakfast to savor a quiet moment before all the gala began. 

Later that evening my husband would don a regal black gown with a deep gold sash.

I would sit long and still in my fancy black dress and marvel that this day had finally come.

We would fan ourselves with our programs and listen to someone old and wrinkled talk about the obligations and the honor that comes wrapped up in those two little letters- M.D.

And I would jostle my bald baby and hush my bored toddler and never once take my eyes off of my handsome man as he walked across stage to accept that diploma that had cost us so much.

Four years of prayer and perseverance.

Of tuna casseroles and WIC checks and wondering how we’d pay the rent again.

Four years of Sorry, I can’t. I’ve got to study. 


Of red eyes and blurry days.

Of pressing through the midnight hours with a baby in one hand and a textbook in the other.

Four years of jumping through hoops
and passing exams, of  proving himself worthy of those two little letters while his wife pushed babies on park swings and read The Little Engine that Could 1000 times and mopped those rental house floors with tears of exhaustion and loneliness.

Four years of traveling different roads, but believing that at the end of this crazy journey we’d still be walking together. 

Four years
and two babies
and one woman who had wondered if the dream would would be worth it after all.
And One God who refused to let them quit.

And on that quiet morning in Perkins, that man of mine who would by the end of the day be named doctor, had leaned over his egg skillet and marveled at our toddler’s new bicycle obsession and our tiny daughter’s contagious laughter.

He’d thanked me again and again for believing in him.

And praying for him.

And for never giving up even when the roof leaked and the babies screamed and the spot in bed beside me was empty again and again.

As we’d munched muffins and sipped orange juice, I’d tried to put words to my pleasure.

Tried to tell my groom how much I admired his achievements, how proud I was of all his hard work.

I’d asked if he remembered that night on the mountain top when he was twenty-one-years-old and God planted this dream in his heart and refused to let it die.

 I’d looked him in the eye, wiped the tears pooling in mine and said, “I can’t believe you’re finally a doctor.  Out of all the hard things you’ve done in the past four years, which accomplishment feels best?”

My husband had grown silent. He’d stared at the left-overs on his plate and had moved his cold eggs around and around with his fork.

And then he’d lifted those green eyes to mine, wrapped my slender hand in his and replied quietly but confidently, “Just being a dad.” 


His mouth had upturned into that smile that had melted my heart when I was seventeen and he had squeezed my fingers like he might never let go.

 “You. Them. This….” he’d gently stroked my wedding ring. “Is what feels best in my life.” 


And I’d cried right there in that awful paisley green padded booth and I’d thanked God for fixing my husband’s heart on all that matters most.

Later that night when my favorite doctor had walked across a spot-lighted stage and received a fancy piece of paper that declared him an M.D., our not-quite-two-year-old son had stood tall on my lap and shouted with joy, “That’s My Daddy!”

Which of course is why my husband bears the letters M.D. after his name.
To remind the world of his finest achievement.

Happy Father’s Day to our Marvelous Daddy!

The Overflow: Listen with respect to the father who raised you, and when your mother grows old, don’t neglect her. Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight. Parents rejoice when their children turn out well; wise children become proud parents. So make your father happy! Make your mother proud! -Proverbs 23:22-25, The Message


Still counting…


1145. Three kids floating happily in green tubes on the lake


1146. Giggling girls tossing eggs out our windows.. the Word coming to life in a messy and marvelous way! 


1147. Visit from my beautiful niece who makes each of my girls feel special


1148. All four kids laughing loud on the trampoline- freeze the moment! 


1149. Eating half a dozen donut holes at the park for Joshua’s half birthday


1150. Joshua’s sneaking out the garage at 6:30 A .M. to ride that new red bike!


1151. Luke pitching baseballs in the front yard and teaching his little siblings how to spit sunflower seeds like “real ball players.”


1152. Five kids dressed in doctor duds for our Wanna Be Like Dad photo shoot!


1153. A husband who loves us well.


1154. A Daddy who reads in silly voices and hugs long.


1155. Our M.D. … no words for the gift!


Linking again with  Ann and these lovely grace seekers:  l.l. for on, in, and around mondays, laura for playdates with god, ruth at the better mom, and jen for soli deo gloria