Father's Day

All four of my children called and left messages on Father's Day and, for me, it was enough.  I would have preferred to have them come from New York, Tennessee and Texas to deliver their greetings in person but that didn't happen for obvious reasons.

I look forward to Father's Day for a couple of reasons.

1.  My dad was significant in my life and his birthday falls around the time of Ftather's Day so I am gernerally predisposed to thinking about him anyway.  He's been gone for twenty-four years and would have been ninety years old June 10th.

2.  I take my role as a father seriously and I always am pretty self-deprecating in reviewing my performance for a variety of reasons, i.e. workaholism, perfectionsim, etc.--not great parenting traits.  But Father's Day messages remind me that I get a passing grade from my kids and affirms the fact that though my fathering was flawed my love for them was apparent and "love covers a multitude of sins".

3.  The evolutuion of my role as a grandfather is an exciting dimension of the whole fathering role.  Though it is vastly different there are some similarities in terms of imperfect performance yet mutual affection.  I also have the advantage of watching my two sons and step-sons perform well as fathers and am welcomed by them as time and space allow into my role as "grandpa"--one I relish.

4.  "Forefathers" also play into my Father's Day mindset--the early patriots who wrote the Deckaration of Indepoendnce and formulated the Constitution under the shadow of "In God we trust", as well as amed service men who stormed places like the beaches of Normandy in WW II at great personal risk toi preserve the freedom we celebrate today.

5.  Finally, I am directed to Romans 8:16 which talks about the unique privilege we celebrate in being a part of the family of God--adopted as sons having trusted in Christ's saving work,  We can call the Creator of the universe "Abba, Father", or in today's vernacular, "Daddy".  How amazing is it that we can have an intimate relationship with a tranmscendant God!

I am living in the afterglow of Father's Day--a conversation today with one of my son's, a message saying "I learned it from the best"...and a reminder that in spite of my flaws and imperfections my children love me, my grandchildren love me...and, most importantly, God  my Heavenly Father, loves me.

How good can it get?