Dad's Enduring Lessons
I’m thankful for my dad, Nelson “Chic” Weisman. In particular, I’m grateful for two lessons he passed on to me.
One is a love of the outdoors. Another is a love for God’s Word.
Growing up, my dad organized and planned family camping trips. With packed station wagon and boat in tow, we’d drive to Dale Hollow Lake in Tennessee or Cumberland Lake in Kentucky.
There, we spent a week in tents, cooked on a Coleman stove, fished, swam, and water-skied. At night, we gathered around a campfire with family and friends, roasted marshmallows, and the adults sometimes told a ghost story or two.
For me, those trips were simple, unhurried escapes from the everyday surroundings of suburban life. Through them, I developed an appreciation of the outdoors and the beauty of creation—everyday reminders of God's power, creativity, and incredible attention to detail. (Rom. 1:20)
Another lesson my dad passed down had to do with reading the Bible.
I’ll never forget it. It was the mid 70’s. We had a paperback copy of Good News For Modern Man lying around the house. One day, as I was paging through it, Dad said, “When you read the Bible, ask God to help you. After all, it’s His book, and you need the help of His Spirit to understand it.”
Looking back, that was a holy moment. Through it, my father modeled a simple faith and a humble reliance on God for something as commonplace as reading the Bible.
For years, I was motivated by pride when I studied scripture. I wanted to gain “Bible knowledge” to impress others. In the end, it left me empty and frustrated. It wasn’t until I came back to Dad’s “prayer reading” that the Bible eventually became a source of inspiration and encounter.
In John 5:39-40, Jesus told the religious teachers, "You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life."
Thank you, Dad, for pointing me to the wonder of God in Christ—both through His creation and His Word.
Happy Father’s Day!
Illustration by Lydia Tarleton
