Not only is the truest greatness found in doing well the things that the world deems [is] mundane, such things as parenting, but so too there is found our greatest happiness. May I illustrate?

With all the energy and agility that a six-year-old could muster, Jolee climbed atop the stool and perched herself at the kitchen counter beside her four-year-old sister, Kristy. With bright-eyed anticipation she looked over at Kristy giving her a knowing and dimpled grin. Ah, Kristy burst into a long stream of giggles. It was the moment they had been waiting for all evening.

You see, Mom was gone to a meeting and she had arranged for their favorite baby-sitter, the Sugar Cookie Baby-Sitter. Now, this baby-sitter didn’t sit and watch TV. This baby-sitter didn’t talk on the phone. No, this baby-sitter was different; this one made sugar cookies and read bedtime stories, and gave ‘horsy rides.’ They loved this baby-sitter.

Jolee and Kristy watched with enthusiasm as their favorite baby-sitter assembled all the fixing’s to make sugar cookies. And now – it was time to make the dough. The baby-sitter measured the amounts, but it was Jolee and Kristy who got to dump it in. The baby-sitter had to crack the eggs though. That was a job that took lots of talent. And since they were too small to stir the dough, the baby-sitter got that job too. With eager anticipation, they watched as the ingredients turned into cookie dough. And finally, it was time to test the dough.

Now, this ritual began with the baby-sitter eating a heaping spoonful of dough. Oh, but you know – if you’ve ever been there, one test is just not enough to tell if the dough is good or not. So, the baby-sitter would ask for second and third opinions, and that’s where Jolee and Kristy would each sample the dough. But it was only after several samplings, and ‘ooh’s’ and ‘aah’s’ in between, would Jolee and Kristy declare with expert competence that it was just right; it had passed the test. Now they could cook it – if there was anything left.

Now, since there was only one cookie-cutter in the house, other objects were pressed into service to cut the dough. And of course, the job of putting the cookies onto the baking sheet and sprinkling them with sugar – well, that belonged exclusively to Jolee and Kristy. The baby-sitter even pretended not to notice when a number of the cookies never quite – made it to the cookie sheet.

Well, with that done, the girls then raced off to get ready for bed, while the surviving cookies baked. Now it was story-time on the baby-sitter’s lap. Story-time was followed by horseback-rides and eating warm cookies. And finally, it was off to bed for two tired, happy and contented little girls.

You know, such are Jolee’s memories of the Sugar Cookie Baby-Sitter – her dad. It was only years later as a college student that she came to appreciate the sacrifices her dad made in spending that time with her and her sister. Not only was he working full-time, but he was also a full-time university student. Mom tells Jolee later of scolding Dad when she’d come home and find him just beginning his homework, rather than finishing it, which often kept him up until the early morning hours.

Jolee says, “Parents make a lot of sacrifices for their children. As a recipient of those sacrifices, I will always be grateful for those ‘sugar cookie nights’ and times spent with my dad.”

It’s Father’s Day. May God bless the fathers who make the sacrifices and take the time. They will be loved, and they will make memories most cherished when they’re gone.

Happy Father’s Day!