This week I was planning to make a video post and I set out Monday night to shoot it. When I was done it was 24 minutes long. Too long for a video blog post. It’s funny how there are times when you really have to mine your heart for things to say and then there are times when you strike a live wire and the content just gushes out of you. Monday night was like that one. Anyway, I am in the process of editing it down into 4 or 5 video posts, and because of the time that the editing process takes (when you barely know what you’re doing), we will NOT be posting that video this week. We’ll just wait & see how the editing goes.
One of the joys of my life is talking with my daughters. I absolutely love it when awesome conversations spontaneously break out and the next thing we know, an hour has gone by and we didn’t even miss it. In times like these we sometimes talk about friends & boyfriends, while other times we talk about things like integrity, honor, humility & honesty. Sometimes the conversation is about both, like people they know who have messed up lives because of the choices they’ve made. One time I was talking to my eldest daughter & we were having one of those conversations. I made a comment about what a particular friend should have done to avoid the fall-out from a bad decision. My daughter looked up at me and said “yeah, but they don’t have YOU for a dad”. Her implication was that if I were this person’s dad, they probably wouldn’t have made the poor choice. While it pleased me that my daughter said that, it also caused me to think.
My children have never had to face many of the struggles and suffering that I have faced, and that some of their friends are currently facing. I know that at least in part, it’s because they have parents who make them a priority and have made it a point to teach them Godly principles from an early age. As I looked back over my life as a son and as a father, I began to see that, as a boy, the thing that mattered most to me about my parents was that I wanted them to be there. As a father, one of my highest priorities is that I want to be there when my girls need me. I want to be there even if they don’t need me. I just like being around them. Even if it’s just to talk about the drama at their workplace or what’s going on with their friends. I need to be there for them. They need me to be there.
What will they need from me tomorrow? I don’t know. We’ll see what tomorrow brings and I’ll do my absolute best to help them navigate it. I told my daughter one time, “Don’t ever run from me. When all the dust settles and everyone else has left you high and dry, I will be the one behind you helping you dig out of this hole”. I can’t do that if I’m not there. Fathers, If you don’t live with your kids, I’m not trying to condemn you, but while your kids need you to support them financially, what they need more than that is for you to be a strong part of their life for good. So what’s the priority of Fatherhood? Be there. Even if you don’t live with them, be a big positive part of their life. Even when they’ve grown up, make sure they know that you’re still there and still on their side.
God the Father demonstrates His own commitment toward us as our Heavenly Father in Deuteronomy 4:31, 31:6 and in Hebrews 13:5 when He says “I will never leave you, nor forsake you”. That leaves us with a strong example of what fatherhood should look like, and it gives us a strong consolation that He will never leave us twisting in the wind. We will never be out of his reach! Wow! Thank you Father!
I challenge you to take it to the next level this week. Make special effort to be with your children and do something memorable. Intentionally teach them something that will help them down the road.
What are some things that you have done, or places you have gone, to have quality time with your kids? Please share by leaving a comment.
