These thoughts were loosely borrowed from May Patterson
And God looked down on all He had made on days 1,2,3,4,5, and on day 6 and said, “Now, I need a caretaker.” So, God made a father.
God said, “I need someone to take his kids out for a Sabbath afternoon of agate hunting and play tunnels and forts in their haymow. It must be someone who is tough enough to run a buzz saw and wield a sledgehammer and yet, gentle enough to join his little girl and her pet kitties for their nightly milk supper.” That man was my father!
“I need someone to bring their family van around when it’s raining, so everyone else can stay dry. Someone who will keep jumper cables in the back, just in case he needs to help a stranger. God said I need someone to notice practical things, like how the tread on the tires is wearing and if the weather stripping around the front door needs replacing, some one that will chop wood for everyone in a campground at 5AM, for no one else will.”
“Yes, he will struggle to fill his duty as church elder since he did not have the gift of tongues, speaking for sermons. But I’ll help him with the important things, like tumbling with the kids on the floor, or saying ‘I’m proud of you, son,’ or giving Mama a hug and being church treasurer for many many years.” God gave me that kind of father!
So God made a father. God thought, “I need someone to provide for the family. Someone who will get up early and stay up late and never complain. I need someone who’s willing to make unpopular decisions and stand by them. Someone to provide authority and discipline, as well as love. Someone that is respected and looked up to in the community.” That was my father!
“I need someone who listens more than he talks. Who will stand by his family through laughter and tears, tornadoes and snowstorms, good times and bad. Someone who will love his kids and love their mother even more.” That too, was my father!
“I need someone who was willing to help with the stacked dirty dishes, for a family of 6 makes lots of dirty dishes and no one else seems to want the job. Someone that could pick up a hoe and work in the family garden after a hard day of work on his farm.”
“I’ll make someone who’s not afraid to go into the dark at night, or to check on what goes bump in the night, or to remove the dead mouse from the mousetrap. Someone who will yank a child back from the path of danger and who will keep a wary eye on strangers. I need someone who will plan wonderful days of travel and camping for his family that they will remember forever as special times.”
“I’ll give him broad shoulders, broad enough to carry a little child around town and broad enough to pull more than his fair share.” That was my father!
And, So God made a father. God said, “I need someone who’s strong enough to open a tightly sealed pickle jar and someone who’s tall enough to pick a juicy apple higher than his daughter could reach. And still yet, God said, “I need someone who is gracious enough to take his son to a fishing hole or to let his daughter pretend she was his one and only special companion.”
“Yes, I need someone who is willing to work the second-shift, or take second-best, or play second fiddle, so that his family can have it better than he did.”
Yes, that was my father!
“I need someone who’s willing . . . willing to man up and provide the love, support and strength his family will so desperately need.”
Then God molded a man with long slim legs and broad shoulders. A nearby angel perhaps commented and chuckled-- "Do you realize you just made a
Father without a lap?" God said, "A Mother needs a lap. A Father needs strong shoulders to pull a sled, to balance a boy on a bicycle, or to hold a sleepy child on the way home after a long day out with his family, or to move hay bales for a hay mow maze and dig a snowbank fort and pull a snow sled for a fast ride across the yard."
So, God made a father. He is the first hero a little child will ever know. His influence lasts much longer than his life. Certainly for me, he has been my hero, even into my adult years. With him I never felt fear. With him I knew I was safe! He was in the image of God to me! The Lord created fathers to be a living, breathing display of who He is: a protector, a provider and a leader. And while some earthly fathers fail, many strive to live out God’s plan for fatherhood, even though it’s a pretty tall order.
Consider what God asks fathers to do: Provide for their families (1 Tim. 5:8) Love sacrificially (Eph. 5:25-33) Teach their children about the Lord (Eph. 6:4) Encourage their children (Col. 3:21) Talk about God’s word, often (Deut. 6:6-9) Appreciate their children (Ps. 127:3-5) Guide their families in serving the Lord (Josh. 24:15) Set a good example (Prov. 20:7) Love their children enough to discipline them (Prov. 13:24; 19:18) Lead their families as Christ leads the church (Eph. 5:23)
Those things were my father! I am so glad that he became God's man and then became my father!!
Fathers are often unappreciated, but God highly values them. Some consider fathers to be weak, but God designed it for the strong. Fathers are often the butt of jokes, but God takes them seriously. And so should we. I do!
This weekend, our nation will pause to honor our fathers. While our fathers aren’t perfect, they do deserve recognition for the good that they do and the love they give. Many father children, but few are truly fathers. So this Father’s Day--I wish I could give my father a hug and give him a heartfelt "I love you so so much and miss you every day!" If only I could—Make a call. Share a family meal. Send a card saying I love him. I want the chance to overlook any differences we might have had. This year I am going to remember that our sons all have the characters that can only be God given as I watch them all have some of the same "father gifts and characters" that God gave to them as men that makes them, too, fathers in His Image! And I have a husband that also has been the father in their lives that showed them what God wanted a father to be! I have much to be thankful for!
Don’t let this opportunity go by without letting the fathers in your life know how much you appreciate them. I wish I could!
Don't put it off! Don't wait until it is too late.
I am guilty of putting things off! My doctor will confirm that! She has wanted me to schedule some tests that are supposed to keep you healthy if you obey what the tests indicate. I put off the tests of bone scans, the test of mammography and other tests that are considered important! Recently I decided that I should submit to what I didn't want to do. I knew deep down that I was putting off something that should be done! When I put off getting the tests in a timely manner, I was endangering my life. Two of the tests came back positive. And now I have two surgeries ahead of me to correct the problems. I am "glad" that I did not put the tests off any longer. God impressed me that now was the time to stop putting off. God has perfect timing, and He wants us to be ready to follow His timing.
That putting off thought set me to thinking about how so many are putting off getting ready for the time when Jesus comes to end life on this old world. Time is running out to make a decision to be ready for His coming. He wants us to answer His day of testing. He waits for us to see if we will answer yes to His recommendations. Will I wait to answer yes? Will I choose to answer at the last minute so to speak? Will I answer "just in time?" There will be no excuse for me if I wait until too late to say yes! If I listen to Father God and what He asks of me, I can be assured that Father God's timing is perfect. I think I better do it now and not put it off. Just as I put off the medical tests almost too long, I do not want to put off my Father God too long and then be eternally sorry!
