The best thing about dads....

If they're good ones, they know what you need, and sometimes what you want, before you even ask.

Mine is a prime example. For Christmas, Dad bought me tickets to the annual sweetheart banquet sponsored by our local Christian radio station. And, no, I'm not going with some stranger from halfway across the globe -- Dad is taking me himself. How awesome is that?

But it gets better. The entertainment for the evening includes Mark Schultz, who just happens to be one of the nicest guys on the planet. When I was between jobs in 2005, the Lord used Mark and his music to minister to my soul and keep me looking up during a very difficult time of transition. (I think I saw him in concert about 10 times that year, and I even got to meet him.)

As excited as I was to hear that Mark would be in town again (with fellow Dove Award winner Brandon Heath, no less), I had resigned myself to not seeing this particular concert. It's a sweetheart banquet, after all, and one doesn't just go to those alone. Plus, the ticket price was more than my meager budget could handle.

Little did I know that my dad bought tickets when the station first began advertising the event. The gift was so unexpected that I burst into tears when I opened it. I think my brothers and sister-in-law were offended that their gifts did not also evoke tears. (Sorry guys! You know I love you.)

What a treat it will be! For the first time in a long while, I get to celebrate Valentine's Day with my best guy!

How tender of my Heavenly Father to know just what my lonely heart needed, and how special that He threw in one of my favorite artists to boot! I am so blessed and so unworthy of the gifts He gives to me. A lot of times mine come through my earthly dad, but He gives such gifts to all His children (Matt. 7:11; James 1:17) in a lot of different ways. We have only to open our eyes to see them.