Father’s Day - It’s More Than Paper Ties and Aftershave
Posted: Monday, June 9, 2008 by My Waverley
Greetings Men,
It's been a while since the last posting, but here are some things that came to mind when I thought about Father's Day this year......
Another Father’s Day will soon be upon us. A day of sitting back, relaxing, maybe playing a little golf, or taking a long Sunday nap. A day where you get paper ties, aftershave, and hand-made Father’s Day cards from your children.
I remember my first Father’s Day card given to me by my son – made with his little hands and containing his whole heart: “I love you Daddy”. I remember now I thanked him, and gave him a hug – but I am ashamed to admit it: I was just going through the motions. As I sit here writing this note, I am on the verge of tears as I recall his little smile and total unconditional love that can only come from a child. I finally get it; his gift to me was not a handmade card with the pasted on paper starts and glitter, but his love. Not some of his love, but all of it. 100 percent, no strings, no conditions – and I marginalized that selfless act of a child. I can only pray that my son and my God will forgive me for my selfishness.
Flashback: As I recall back to my childhood, I don’t remember my father wearing the paper tie I made for him, but I do recall that his reaction and actions upon receiving my gift were the same ones that I showed my own son: Quick thanks, a quick hug, and a long nap. As I look back at what I have written so far, I see a general pattern that spans at least 1 generation. Let’s go down this road a little farther than Father’s Day. I remember my father was a busy man and as I grew older it seemed he has less time for me. We never really talked about God, we never prayed together. As a teenager, I remember we fought a lot and hardly ever spoke to one each other.
Flash-forward to present time: I was a busy may driven by work, money, and totally defined by my job title. I never had time for my son. I didn’t talk about God and I didn’t pray with him. Is the pattern getting clearer? If I extrapolate this data, my son could possibly grow up to resent his father, be totally driven by work, school, sports, or whatever, and have no time or show no love towards his son or daughter.
My friends, what we have here is another lie invented by, and perpetuated across generations by the great deceiver. Another stronghold that threatens the unity of the family put up by the devil. Men, the time to act is now. Consider this message a call to arms, a red alert, an all points bulletin. Take the following action immediately:
1. Sit down with your family – turn off the TV, the Playstation, the iPods, the cell phones, Blackberrys and any other distraction. Spend quality time with them. What should you do? Talking with your wife and kids is a good start. Ask them how their day was, or how they are feeling.
2. Pray with your children. As men we are accountable to God for teaching our children how to talk to God and how to walk with God. Nothing pleases God more than to hear the heartfelt prayer of a child, and when you pray with your sons and daughters, you too will be blessed.
3. Pray with your wife. Want to know God’s secret for a happy marriage. Spend quality time with your wife and pray with her. Don’t bother with the shallow “thank you for the sunny day” type of prayer, but be prepared to jump into the deep end of the pool and walk with your wife to the foot of the cross and lay it all out on the ground.
4. Examine your life and determine what is really important. Divest yourself of activities that rob you of time with your family and with God. I’ll let you in on a little secret; the company you work for will never love you or care for you like your family.
5. Pray. It don’t get no simpler than that. Get on your knees at the foot of the cross and pray for forgiveness because you have placed your faith in yourself and not Him. Pray that He will forgive you for breaking your kid’s hearts, as well as your wife’s. Pray that his Spirit will enter you and ask that He bring you back on His path.
6. Talk to your father. If your father is still living, sit down and talk with him. Talk about the tough stuff. Forgive him for the mistakes he made. Tell him that you love him. Pray with him. If he has passed away go to where he was laid to rest if you can and just talk to him.
The last thing I would recommend to you is that on this Father’s Day you give yourself to your Heavenly Father as a living sacrifice. Our Heavenly Dad always has time to listen to us, and to spend tome with us. He will always love us, even when we are bad. Give Him the greatest gift you can offer, which also happens to be the greatest give you can offer your children – yourself.
Our Father in heaven. On this Father’s Day, I give myself to you as the ultimate Father’s Day gift. Please bless my wife and my children, and help me to be a better dad and a better husband. Lord, bless my father. He did the best he could, but like me made a lot of mistakes along the way. Dear God, please break the generational stronghold that keep us from our kids, and help me break the cycle of parental stumblings.
Lord have mercy on me. Please forgive me. Help me to demonstrate the Father Heart of God to my children and my wife. I thank you for your grace and love and the blessing of children who give their love unconditionally. I pray this will be a day of peace for me and my family.
In your Holy Name I pray……
Amen
Happy Fathers Day
Sean C |
