Skip to main content

To All Dads: Happy Father's Day

This morning I sat down to write a note to each of my "dads" in the family.  Chris is my oldest son and dad to Jack and Leo;  Peter is married to Lindsay and dad to Raewyn and Theo; and Greg is married to Kelly and dad to Iris.  Their families are young...Jack will be five this next week, but three are 2 and 1/2, and Iris is just 7 months.
What to say to dads?  Here's what hit me and I pass it along for all you dad's out there:

Happy Father's Day to you all.  As one with you I celebrate you in one of the most important roles of life - being a husband and dad.
I have great memories of kids growing up, even if at the time it didn't always seem to be great.
There are a lot of things on your mind as a Dad.  I know, and that is why I commend you to trust God and seek him for all that needs to be done.

I think I was about 25 or 26, Kelly was a baby, Chris was inside of Linda's womb and I ran across a verse from Genesis that stuck with me - has stuck with me all these years.

It is a story from the Joseph and his brothers narrative, where Joseph is now the Prime Minister, his brothers come seeking food and at this point he is still hidden from their sight.  Joseph has just managed to trick them by putting a gold cup in his brother's Benjamin's sack, and he has been "caught" supposedly trying to steal it.  Joseph, of course, is setting him up, in hopes that he can get him to stay.

It is here that a dialogue happens, and it hit me then, and still does today, what Judah, one of the oldest brothers ends up pleading to the yet unknown Joseph...I'll let you read it here:

Genesis 44:21-34 (NIV) 
21 "Then you said to your servants, 'Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.'
22 And we said to my lord, 'The boy cannot leave his father; if he leaves him, his father will die.'
23 But you told your servants, 'Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you will not see my face again.'
24 When we went back to your servant my father, we told him what my lord had said.
25 "Then our father said, 'Go back and buy a little more food.'
26 But we said, 'We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother is with us will we go. We cannot see the man's face unless our youngest brother is with us.'
27 "Your servant my father said to us, 'You know that my wife bore me two sons.
28 One of them went away from me, and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." And I have not seen him since.
29 If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.'
30 "So now, if the boy is not with us when I go back to your servant my father and if my father, whose life is closely bound up with the boy's life,
31 sees that the boy isn't there, he will die. Your servants will bring the gray head of our father down to the grave in sorrow.
32 Your servant guaranteed the boy's safety to my father. I said, 'If I do not bring him back to you, I will bear the blame before you, my father, all my life!'
33 "Now then, please let your servant remain here as my lord's slave in place of the boy, and let the boy return with his brothers.
34 How can I go back to my father if the boy is not with me? No! Do not let me see the misery that would come upon my father." 


It is that last line in vs 34 that made me seek God for my children...  I do not want to go to the Father if my children are not with me...and it would make God even sadder than me.

The most important thing you are, and will be, is a husband and a father...

The rest of what I wrote was personal to them...but there it is.
My greatest desire in life was to live in such a way that my children knew God...that I loved God with all of my heart, and that I wanted them to know him and to love him too.

To ALL of you Dads:  Happy Father's Day.

Peace

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The difference between defending and explaining

The news of recent has focused the suffering of Christians in the middle east who have been martyred for their faith in Christ at the hands of Islamic Terrorists. Through the centuries many Christians have lost their lives as a result of their faith. For us, who live in America, there is little chance that we would have this happen here - but it's entirely possibly that terrorism will strike out at Christians sometime.  But, for many Christians in the western world - especially here in the U.S. - being a Christians who believes God's word there is a form of persecution that is defined by words like "ostracized", "passed over", "ridiculed", and more. What do we do in the face of opposition to faith? When the Apostle Peter writes to the early believers who are undergoing great pressure, even persecution for their faith in Jesus, he gives them this charge. 1 Peter 3:8-18 8  Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly lov

Wednesday, Day 25: Christmas Eve - God Loves Us (So We Can Relax)

For Kids: There’s a lot of things we have to do each day. Get up from our sleep, Get dressed, Eat Breakfast, Get ready for School, Listen to the teacher, play with friends, eat our lunch, and after it’s all done, go back home. There’s time to play, Then we eat our supper… And eventually we have to get ready for bed and go to sleep! And then we do it all over again the next day. Sometimes there’s a vacation - like right now - and we get more time to play, to have fun and not have to do work at school. Our parents are good at helping us know what time it is and what we need to do next – even when we don’t want to move on to the next thing.  God is also good at helping us know what time it is, and what is next.  He doesn’t shout at us, or yell, or even scream…he does it peacefully, quietly.  He wants us to understand that he does it, most of all, for us. Christmas can be quite busy and there’s lots of things going on at once…but let us not forg

The Tabernacle

The readings today are Exodus 36, 37, 38 I wanted to post some pictures of what these various parts of the Tabernacle looked like. It's not the easiest read in the world, but if you persevere through it, you can get a picture of all the different pieces that made up the tabernacle. It is a replica of the various parts of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: First thing in the chapter listed is the outside of the tabernacle which consisted of curtains tied together and put on cross bars through loops. Next at the beginning of 37 is the table and lampstand: Also, the altar of incense: And, the altar for the burnt offering which was in the courtyard: Finally, the courtyard which made it all come together: Hope that helps with what it might have all looked like. Most importantly, this was their "place" of worship they were building. I hope you have a great day of worship. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad