Father's Day

As I scroll through my newsfeed on Facebook, I have friends who dedicate a status or picture to their loving father and others who are left with cherished memories of a father who is deeply loved and terribly missed. I find myself (as I do every Father’s Day) feeling a course of emotions running through my heart.  I’m happy, humored, touched, connected, envious, angry…and longing.

As kids, my siblings and I often found ourselves in the category of the fatherless.  I don’t have a story of great honor to tell about why my father was absent from our lives. He didn’t die a great man or have to leave for extended periods of time to provide for his family…he often chose alcohol instead of us.

I remember watching other kids with such longing.  I wanted to feel like my dad loved me like their dad loved them.  I wanted to feel like my dad chose me.  I wanted the security of a father.  I longed for him to want to be our father. 

I am thankful that God can reach us even through heartbreak.  I have forgiven my dad (a lesson in itself) and even tried to put some semblance of relationship back together with him.  I am thankful that God uses others to reach us even through heartbreak. I look back and am thankful for the many men who stepped up and filled the role of substitute dad the best they could.  I remember my Uncle Reeve offering to take us to Father-Daughter banquets and Uncle Sam reminding us that we were great kids and our dad was really the one missing out.  God blessed me with the world’s greatest grandpa who spent countless hours pouring into our lives, praying for us, and teaching us about a father in Heaven who loved us with a perfect love.  I remember a pastor at our church taking my brother fishing and others who would tease us and show us magic tricks.

     When I was 12, God used another man to love us. Bless his heart, my stepdad chose very

Proud Papa

deliberately to be a father to my siblings and I. (He must have also been slightly crazy to take on two preteen daughters and a son!)  I will never begin to be able to express to him the depth of gratitude I feel for him and his selflessness as our dad.  He has shown me what a godly husband and father look like and has sacrificed more for the three of us than some genetically related fathers do for their kids.  He is a true hero in every sense of the word.  (And if you know my dad, you know words aren’t really his thing.)  

   

World's Greatest and Best-Looking Dad

  Now I help my kids celebrate Father’s Day with their dad. I sometimes find myself jealous of my kids.  They have the kind of dad my heart desired so greatly as a kid. They have a dad who loves them, chooses them, and protects them.  I know they think the world of him now and he is their hero just as my stepdad is mine.  I hope that as they continue to grow, they never forget how truly blessed they are to have a godly father in their lives.

     Father’s Day is a day of mixed emotions for me.  My childlike heart still longs for the daddy I missed out on and my grown up heart is so thankful to finally have a dad who really did choose me.  My heart is also full knowing that even when our earthly fathers let us down, our Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love.

Happy Father’s Day to the dads and "substitute dads" in my life! 

Thunder Thighs and Baby Steps

  This week while I was trying to force encourage my daughter to walk, she finally got the courage to do it. She took her first steps!  If you’ve ever seen the size of my daughter’s thighs, you know the fact that she can stand on her own is pretty remarkable, but taking steps…now that’s quite a feat!  (I’m half-kidding here.  I mean seriously, who can resist a chunky baby? Especially one with a face like that!)

      I find watching babies learn to walk incredibly exciting and frustrating all at the same time.  Emersyn has been standing independently for quite some time now.  She can get herself to standing position from the middle of the floor, bounce on her toes, and even squat down.  Taking a few steps should really be no big deal.  And yet, it is.  (To me and to her.)  I know how proud she’ll be and the freedom she’ll gain by taking those steps.  Freedom to follow her big brother, play in the grass, and get into things and explore.  (Although, I don’t know about your kids, but mine seemed pretty capable of destroying my house as soon as they could crawl. Nah. I take that back, my kids have been taking over our house since they moved in.) 

      In the middle of one of our not so successful “practice sessions”, I had one of those thoughts that comes out of nowhere and slams into you like a two-ton brick.  My thought: My daughter will probably be in therapy one day because her mother pushed her too hard while learning to walk.  I’m kidding. Although it’s probably true.  My thought (for real this time): Is this how God feels watching us sometimes?  Is it excruciatingly frustrating for Him to just sit and watch and know how capable we are and yet we don’t.  Something keeps holding us back—fear, comfort, ignorance, pride…He knows what freedom we can have if we just take those first few steps. 

      I imagine God and I have similar thoughts as we’re encouraging our children to take those first few and crucial steps.  “I’m right here.  I am bigger, stronger, and watching out for anything that will come your way.  I can catch you.  I can help you up.  I will be the one to offer words of comfort and I will be cheering the loudest when you succeed. You can do it.”

      God really does have all of those thoughts.  God gives us this same pep talk through his word.

·         Hebrews 13:5—“…Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

·         Romans 8:31&38-39—“…If God is for us, who can be against us?...For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God…

·         Psalm 54:4—“Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.”

·         Isaiah 41:10—“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

·         Philippians 4:13—“I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.”

So go on, friend! Take those first few steps.  And every time you see a chunky baby’s little thunder thighs, remember, God is patiently and excitedly waiting for you to take the next step in your faith.

Lord, thank you for your patience.  Thank you that you desire great things for my life.  Give me the courage to take those steps…wherever they lead.