Happy Father’s Day!
Since our kids never stop growing, every Father’s Day brings a new perspective.
With only half our kids still living at home, our home is getting quieter. There’s less rambunctious kids running around every moment of the day. Instead, their time is spent in many activities outside the home. Sure summertime has them home from school. But there’s still work, karate, and other youth activities and camps.
And when they are home, they don’t clamor for a parent’s attention or time like they did when they were young.
I look back over how I’ve changed since first becoming a father so many years ago. It’s quite the journey.
A lot of times we like to look back at the big events of our lives to find pivotal moments. However big they may be, it’s actually the small, consistent things that make the biggest impact on our lives as well as those of our children.
So when I read this statement in the newspaper this morning, I was nodding affirmatively the whole time:
It could be that the best way for a father to bless and influence his children is by doing simple things with them, day to day, over and over: playing catch, washing dishes, weeding the garden, working on homework — just being together. Lasting memories are built in moments like these. Each daily decision to set a good example, to live with integrity, to love with loyalty and to spend time together strengthens the bond between father and child. Surely there’s no better use of a father’s energy, heart and time.
Yes, fatherhood comes with its sorrows and heartache as deep and poignant as its joys. But when a father has invested himself in the small daily moments, he doesn’t give up easily. He keeps loving, keeps trying, keeps being there for his family. Such efforts may seem insignificant at the time, but eternity is composed of these simple moments, and they add up to some of the deepest, most lasting joys that heaven grants us on earth.
On this Father’s Day, I hope I can take time to appreciate the little things (habits) that I do each day as well as those of my family. Because if I can find the beauty in the little things, then my life is full.
I wish you all a Happy Father’s Day!
