My dad always says this to my mom & I never thought much about it until tonight.

He would say this to her whenever she leaves the house to go to work, whenever she calls to say she’s on her way home from work, or whenever she just leaves the house in general. I don’t know, he just always says it whenever he’s ending the conversation with my mom. 

Tonight, my mom left to go to a birthday party. As she was leaving…

Dad: “Drive safely. Bata.”
Mom: “Okay.”

I finally asked my dad about it & he didn’t even realize that he said it (LOL. Good one, dad.)  He said…

It’s to remind your mom. I don’t realize I say it sometimes. I mostly say it at night before I go to sleep after I pray. I say ‘bata’ to your mom to remind her to take good care of you guys in case I don’t wake up. She usually says ‘okay’ and then I can go to sleep knowing that you guys will be fine if I die while I’m sleeping.

“Aww.. dad!” LOL. Yes, that was my reaction. & his to mine? “Whatever..” HAHAH

Generally, my dad can be so… makulit.

My dad is the type that embarrasses me in public. The type that scares me in the middle of the night forcing me to sleep with the night light on. The type that still thinks he needs to remind me every night to brush my teeth, wash my face, and sleep at 9pm. And the type that decides to tell random people the real reason behind my nickname :( 

But I love moments like these because it shows his fatherly side. What’s even better, is that it shows how blessed I am to have a godly man for a father. I know I complained a lot about him in the ways he disciplines me and my siblings. But I need to remember that he disciplines us the way that he does because he genuinely loves us (Proverbs 3:11-12, right? Heh.)

Man, I still have so much to learn, and knowing myself I tend to learn the hard way. But I’m blessed to have a dad that can handle me at my worst. And if you ask him how he does it (and ask for a serious answer -_-) he’ll say it is all because of His grace. 

Woo. I’m praying that I’ll remember my dad’s unconditional love for me, even during our not-so-great moments. Oh man, the Lord is totally going to test me on this one. So if you’re reading this, pray for me and my dad! :)