Like Father Like Son

I hear it everyday at work; "You look just like your father." or "You sounded just like your dad when you said that." I know in a lot of cases this is embarrassing for people, and it used to embarrass me. It has become an honor to hear that now, because I realized my father is a great man. He worked very hard while I was growing up, and continues to do his best in every job he does. He provided all our needs as children: beds, clothes, food, roof over our heads, and transportation. He taught us hard work, and a sense of honor and devotion. It's a high standard, which I fell very far from, but I'm working my way up to it.

I'm realizing how much I'm like him lately. My mannerisms, sense of humor, laugh, and I've even got the family limp! I was walking into the apartment the other day, and I realized I had started the habit of wearing my work jacket most places that I went. I can only remember three jackets my dad ever wore: His suit coat, jean jacket for working outside, and his work jacket. I don't know how my dad felt, but for me it was like his sense of identity. It has his name, his place of business, and for a while it had his ASE Master Tech badge which labeled him as a Master Mechanic.

These thoughts were stumbling around in my brain, the jumbled soup of thoughts, emotions, and chaos that it normally is, when I came across a verse.

John 5:19 ¹⁹So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise

Now, of course this is an entirely different situation, but it was cool to me to see that there's a pattern. Often sons will do what their father does, be it a life pattern or just the same job. I've always joked how I'm the perfect blend of my parents, and it's very true. I look like my dad, but body structure is more like my mom. I have dad's laugh and smile, and both of their abilities to make friends anywhere. When I get frustrated I act like my dad, and I space out and get distracted easily like my mom.

I was with mom through most of my life, dad working crazy hours and such didn't leave much more then stories at night when we were younger and dinner sometimes if he wasn't working late. Being home schooled gave me a lot of time with my family, but work kept dad away. So, until I was about 15 years old, I was very like my mom. Then I started working with my dad, and while I was still me, I began to learn mannerisms and patterns from my dad. I changed a little, and for the better I feel.

God set a standard, and began a lifestyle that Jesus expressed fully and completely in his lifetime. He was obedient to his earthly mother, and lived without sin. Jesus healed because God does, He loved because God does, He expressed anger at the defilement of the temple because God was angry, and He surrendered Himself to the cross because God commanded it. I have not been as obedient to my earthly or heavenly father.

So, onward the journey goes.