Sunday is Fathers Day. It is a day for remembering and giving thanks for our dads. I’m grateful that when I look back at my childhood, I have ample reason to be thankful. Yes, I was spoiled. I had everything I needed and most of what I wanted. We took great vacations and we visited all those places kids want to go. We certainly were not wealthy but we had it better than a lot of kids I knew. But the true gift my father gave me was not something money could buy. He taught me loving devotion.
I saw it when he worked late hours after going in early so he could drive 2.5 hours one way to watch a ball game my brother was playing in. I saw it when I turned from my seat on the bench during my game and I could see in his face my game was just as important as the one my brother stared in. I witnessed it every third Sunday night of the month when I stood to preach at the Meridian Avenue Baptist Church in Oklahoma City and there he was, Bible in hand, waiting for me to open the Word of God.
I saw it every time his eyes lit up at the sight of my children. I witnessed it every time he “happened by the house” and asked if anyone wanted to, “go see a man about a dog?” My kids piled in his car and they were off to Braum’s. I close my eyes and I see his smile and I hear his laugh. And I think, “Thank you Pappy for teaching me that while it is important to provide for your family – life is far more than food, shelter and clothing. While it is important to see that your children are educated – life lessons are taught by example. They are lessons absorbed through time spent together. Thank you for teaching me to laugh and to love. Thank you for teaching me the value of simple things. Thanks for teaching me how to be a dad.”
Happy Fathers Day. I’ll see you Sunday.
Rod