"You are Your Father's Daughter"

I get this a lot...

My personality, my humor, my nose/bottom lip... I hear it ALL the time- "Yeah Jess, you are your father's daughter."

And if I'm being honest, that's probably one of the best compliments someone has ever given me. Here's why-

The majority of people in my life know my dad is one (if not more) of three ways 1. Pastor Dave 2. Coach Dave 3. Uncle Dave

1. On a Sunday morning, Bay Hills gets the wise, hilarious, and pastoral "Dave." One of my absolute favorite parts of being home is hearing my dad preach. I love it. And even if I'm not there I make it a point to watch the podcast because I enjoy hearing my dad speak. That being said, Monday-Saturday, there's a lot that Bay Hills does not see, but my family surely does-- Meetings, phone calls, counseling, the building project, the search for a worship pastor, trips to Africa, on top of preparing a message for Sunday morning. He works so freaking hard, and he does it because this is what God has called him to do and because it's what he's passionate about, but it's not an "easy" job. I take SO much pride in being a pastor's kid. I love nothing more than sitting in an old Circuit City building or on Cougar Walk listening to/watching one of my dad's sermons. I can't help but think of how blessed I am and how proud of my dad for what he does.

2. For those of you who know my dad, you know he's a HUGE soccer fan, and you can definitely see it if you've ever been to one of my sister's soccer games. He is the coach of her team. He is so knowledgeable about this sport, and that has translated into teaching and coaching this incredible team. During soccer practices and soccer games, Coach Dave is not one to be quiet on the field, but he has made Julia's team one of the best in the league (in my humble and bias opinion).

3. I love my extended family so incredibly much. But because every single one of us is either in a different state or a different country, it makes seeing and spending time with one another very difficult. I love it when I get the chance to see them. When we have family reunions in Lake Tahoe with my dad's side of the family (Grandparents, aunt, uncle, cousins, and the five of us) Uncle Dave is definitely the life of the party. It's pretty much whenever we go anywhere, but I notice it the most when we're with family. From messing with my aunt (his sister) to putting sand down one of my cousin's swim trunks just for being a punk, Uncle Dave is a ton of fun to be around.

Pastor. Coach. Uncle. All different sides of my dad, all overlapping someway somehow and showing different aspects of him.

There are only three fortunate humans and one four-legged K9 who are blessed to call him "dad."

We get to see him at his best, and at his worst.

We get to see him in the morning with a cup of coffee enjoying his Spanish magazines.

We get to see him scold Xavi for being on the couch.

We get to see him scold US for not having our rooms clean *cough cough JOSH*

We get to see his horrible yet slightly amusing humor while watching Impractical Jokers as a family.

We get to hear him whistle every single college fight song (which I might add he's so good at whistling, he sounds like freaking Tweetie Bird).

We get to see him take incredible selfies that consist of half of the subject's face and his thumb.

We get to see him get so passionate and intense during a Barça game to the point where he's yelling at the TV. In Spanish. As though Messi could hear him.

We get to have him call us (my brother and me) while he walks the dog since we don't get to see him every day.

We get to see him care for, love on, and cherish our mom daily.

We get to have him wholeheartedly push us towards God.

We get to have him push us to be better human beings.

We get to have him as our pastor and as our coach... But we get to call him dad.

Whether he's a pastor, a coach, an uncle, a jokester, a professional whistler...

He will always be my dad.

Humble. Wise. Godly.

Any sort of comparison to him... Yeah, I want to be my father's daughter.