Once I became the father of three children, Father's Day came to mean a lot more to me than it used to. I always appreciated my dad; now I just marvel at how he and my mom raised three boys into healthy, successful adults.
Someone has said, "A father is a person who is forced to endure childbirth without anesthetic." I like Paul Harvey's observation: "Fathers give daughters away to other men who aren't nearly good enough, so they can have grandchildren who are smarter than anybody else's."
My mother and father have been married for almost 65 years. Their marriage has had the normal ups and downs that most of us go through as we deal with all the pressures, changes and circumstances that life brings our way. Yet I am grateful that they persevered and for the lessons they taught by example.
I talk to lots of people who live with the scars of never knowing that they were loved. Not so in our household. There were times when we didn’t have a lot of this world’s goods…but we always knew that we were loved. We also were nurtured in the Christian faith – from the time we were infants - dedicated to the Lord. I believe that it was easier for me and for my brothers to appropriate God’s love in our life because we experienced it in our parents.
Psalm 103: 17 says: “The love of the Lord remains forever with those who honor him. His salvation extends to the children’s children.”
I’m grateful for parents who, by their words and deeds, loved God, who taught us the truth of God’s Word, and who showed us the love of our Heavenly Father. Jan and my prayer is that we have been able to set that same example for our children and now for our grandchildren.
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