The bond most of us hold with our mothers is usually different than that with our fathers; but they are still equally strong. Mothers usually hold the more affectionate and emotional role in our lives, while fathers usually hold the stronger more foundational role. Nothing can replace the roles of a mother and a father, and a good strong family cannot be without them. For even though mothers and fathers hold different roles in our lives, we need what they both have to give. They balance out the family atmosphere to build healthy relationships.
Not that our parents are perfect. No family is perfect for that matter. Don't look to "Leave It To Beaver" for a good role model family, for indeed today there are probably more "broken" families (parents who have split up, abusive parents, or abusive kids, etc.) than families with both parents still together.
The bond I have with my mother is a close one. I can talk to her about just anything, and she shows more love to me than I most likely deserve. My mother and I do many things together like shopping, cooking, and many other "feminine" activities.
Even though I am a young lady, the things I do with my father are much different than those of my mother, like bonding over fishing, hunting, and even watching TV. Being a girl who has grown up out in the sticks, running around acting the tomboy is not at all out of the ordinary.
People say when they see me with my dad how I look like him. When I hear that, it makes me feel so proud inside. I feel that because I look like "daddy's little girl" this is just one more thing to make bond between father and his only daughter that much stronger.
I love my father, and even though to outsiders it may seem I have a closer relationship with my mother, I still have a close one with my father. We just show it in different ways, which makes sense, when after all, mothers are females, and fathers are males.
For someone like me, being born into the family that I have has been such a blessing. My parents were both believers who brought up my brother and I in the faith, giving us a good foundation to live upon both spiritually and morally. While my family is not at all perfect, (indeed we act just as weird as the next family), I love them better this way, for their faults make them real and relate-able, unlike Beaver Cleaver's family.
There is the saying, "Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy". Today, like Mother's Day, we set aside time nationally to celebrate our dads, pops, and fathers. We take them out to dinner, to the show, get them a "manly" gift, call them up, etc., showing them some sort of way of how much we love them. For most of us, our dads were not just the father who provides us food to eat. No, our fathers are the all-around dads who took the time to play catch with us as kids, work on cars with, go camping with, (in my case a few tea parties), and so on and on. Our dads took the time to get to know us, to nurture the love bond between father and child. They were no longer just a father. They became our dads.
But dads aren't perfect, just like mothers aren't either (no matter what they tell us). But there is one who is. God our Father. In the moments when it feels we have no father, or for many of us who have never known what it was like to have that father figure in our lives, we can know that we will ALWAYS have God. It might seem different because, well, God isn't here physically, to play ball with and eat s'mores with. But that is exactly why God gave us mothers AND fathers, so that we could grow and be nurtured physically. God shows His love for us through our parents. Through everything that surrounds us. Through every way we can think of, and in every other way we can't. God our Heavenly Father is that amazing and complex. And yet He simply loves us for us.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
God is for sure always there mentally and spiritually. He is there in the moments when we are kissed by our mother. He is there when we are hugged by our father. He is everywhere. He is both our mother and father.
Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Corinthians 8:6
We can look at our dads as reflections of God our Father. We are disciplined by our dads, and loved by them. God does the same thing, just in a different way. Dads will do anything to protect their children. They don't want to see us get hurt, but they know that no matter what they do, many times we will be. So is the same with God. If there is anything at all that I could for sure definitely say without a doubt, it would be how much God LOVES US.
But the man who loves God is known by God. 1 Corinthians 8:3
Have you talked to your father today? And told him you loved him? Because even though we know they love us, and vice versa, it is nice to hear it aloud. There is such power in the words, I LOVE YOU. Father's Day may only be recognized for today, but really, it should be every day. We don't often realize how HUGE a role our parents play in our lives. So the least we can do is show them our love. For in everything they do, it too is done in love.
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. Hebrews 12:9-10
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"—which is the first commandment with a promise— "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." Ephesians 6:1-2
If you are in the position where your father isn't really in your life, my only advice to you is this. If God our Heavenly Father loves us even if we hate Him, shouldn't we also love those who can't seem to love us? Even if it seems unfair to do so. For let me tell you my friends, love really can change people.
In closing, I would just like to say, thank you to all the dads out there—thank you for being everything to your children; we love you so much.
I would like to dedicate this daily bread to all the fathers, especially my own dad. Most of us could never have made it without you there for us.
To Timothy, my wonderful father and crazy dad, who took me on so many adventures to so many places, who took me hunting where we could spend quiet moments together, for your encouragement, protection, and love whenever I needed it, and even when I didn't. Your jokes always bring a quick smile and a laugh from me, and indeed life is never a dull moment with you around. I've certainly been blessed having someone as special as you as not just a father, but as my Daddy.*
And last but definitely not least, have you shown your love and appreciation to your Heavenly Father? How is your personal relationship with Him?
…always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20
To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. Jude 1:1-2
Honoring ALL our Fathers,
Whitney
