My Boy

My  Boy ! ! !

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you . . .”  Jeremiah 1:5 Before I created Daniel Kreshky  for Baggage burdens., I had ideas of how Daniel would become very close to his father.

Daniel’s role as gopher in helping his father in the wood working shop earns Daniel the title of number one assistant, a recognition that Joseph shares with other fathers in after church service conversations. The men praise eight-year-old Daniel.

To be more like his father Daniel works with wood. He carves and paints model trucks. Following in his father’s footsteps, he asks if he can go to the farmer’s market and sell his models. To his surprise, he sold them.

Daniel’s willingness to help his father with gardening illustrates his high regard for Joseph. From other boys at school Daniel learns that mothers plant, weed and harvest the garden. Even though Daniel loves working with wood he willing helps his father in the field.

How did the father-son bonding become so strong? Jill’s preschool photo album holds the answer. It captures Daniel and Joseph going out to cut down a Christmas tree. Another picture shows Daniel weighing down a pile of pruned lilac branches in a trailer. Joseph wrote, Dad’s Helper. A photo of Daniel helping in the garden is captioned My New Thomas. That’s high praise. Joseph often seeks Thomas’ advice. Jill, even in jest, never achieves that recognition.

Joseph was constantly there for his son. He bought him a horse. Instead of working in the field Joseph often went horseback riding with Daniel and took him to soccer practice and

soccer games. They never missed the church’s annual father-son summer outing. Daniel saw his father as an ally. Joseph prevented Jill from dragging Daniel away from his friends. He prevented Jill from pulling him Daniel into homeschooling.

When Joseph divorced Jill, he trusted Daniel more than anyone else. No one else, not even Thomas, received Joseph's cell phone number when he moved away.

Spending a lot of time together cements relationships. That’s a lesson Jill employed with her other children. What examples can you provide to support the perception that time spent together strengthens bonds?

The marriage between Joseph and Jill is strained. How will that example influence Daniel in his marriage to independent-minded Eve? The next blog on Baggage burdens. explores their marriage.