Today I was reading through Face Book and I was very impressed to see how many people were posting about their dads. Almost every post was about how their dad was the best dad ever and then there were the posts about husbands being the best dad ever and of course moms posting how proud they are of their sons being the best dad ever. The thoughts about Father's Day, aka Dad's Day, and I was just in awe over how wonderful it is for those of us who have such great memories of our dad, husband, brother, or son. We are very blessed and should thank God every day that we received such a blessing.
You see, I lived a charmed life. I had two parents who loved each other very much. That couple had three children. I was the youngest and the only girl, so I guess you could say I was Daddy's Girl. Our family had everything we needed. We were not rich but the farm we lived on provided us with all of our needs. My dad was a farmer/rancher and my mother was a full time homemaker until I was in the 7th grade. We didn't go on family vacations, but we did go to lots of stockshows together and our family did quite a bit of traveling, just not all of us at the same time. My parents never, and I mean never, fought in front of us kids. They took us to church at least 3 times a week and were great examples and teachers of our Christian faith. My prayer was to have a family like my parents.
My children grew up with two parents that had been in love since we were in our teens. We went through our share of ups and downs. I can't say my children never saw us argue, but they did know we loved each other and we loved them. We tried to do for our children as much as we could. We were able to travel, let them play summer ball, go to the lake and let them know just how important family is. I tried to teach our kids to respect themselves and each other as well as other people out there.
Where am I going with this. I got to thinking about all of those children out there that can not post what a wonderful father they have. So many children do not get to experience what I did growing up or what my children did growing up. There are even those who had two parents their whole lives but the dad was not much of a dad or mom wasn't much of a mom....or both. It breaks your heart to hear a young child say, I don't have a dad, of course some have to say they don't have a mom. Either way it is just heartbreaking. Sometimes it is because a parent has died, sometimes it is because that parent is incarcerated, sometimes it is because that parent is an absentee parent, and unfortunately sometimes it is because circumstances have made situations where the court has to step in with a protective order against a parent to keep that child safe. There are so many moms and dads that are single parents today. I am talking really Single parents where the other parent is not in the picture at all. This is where grandparents and aunts and uncles step in to help make sure these kids have the correct role models in their lives. When you see one of these single parents that is doing all they can to be both mom and dad to their kids, give them a word of encouragement. Offer them some help if you can whether it is emotional, financial or time. I am afraid if you took a pole on FB, there are many more who would not nominate their dad for Father of the Year than would.
So if you do have the best dad ever out there, which you can't because my dad was the best dad ever, but if you think your dad was....be sure and tell him and for those great husband/dads, and son/dads...let them know also. And then, try to make it a little easier for some other child who doesn't have a dad to tell Happy Father's Day to. I am not trying to bring you down, but I am saying that these holidays are hard for these children. Say a little prayer for these kids, I know I'm going to. I also challenge you to be that Best Dad or Mom Ever!!! If you need an example just think of your Heavenly Father, who was willing to give it all so you can have Eternal Life. He set the bar pretty high.
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