It’s just 3.29am here in UK and my phone just pinged. It was a message from a very good friend wishing me a great Fathers Day with a ‘ Superman ‘ logo and nomination for being best Dad. I had heard that you could get nominated for an Oscar but not for a Dad. I thanked my friend and told him that he caught me just washing the nappies and humbly thanked him. I enquired in my own mind if the longest day coinciding with Father’s Day was a deliberate accident or was there a subliminal message from the Greeting Card manufacturers ?
Becoming a Father is of course quite easy but Being a Father is a tad more difficult. The reality is that no one gets ‘ Father training ‘ and one gets thrown the gauntlet of Fatherhood and the challenges it brings. One of my other friends recently told me that being Father to a girl is better than being a Father to a son as the son grows up and takes a wife but a daughter is there all of your life ( the fact it rhymes may just be Irish coincidence )
It is of course great privilege to be a Father and yes there are many challenges though at the end of the day, yes even the longest day it is the greatest honour and achievement to Master. To hear the address of Dad is a cherished moment every time the word is muttered and on a day Fathers are celebrated all Fathers should remember that.
So often we all as Fathers cannot quite make the mark and so often we can fall short. As the children become adult the Superman hero leaves the mind of the child as they see the frailty of Dad and realise he’s only human after all. Superman becomes man but the love stays. It’s harder to be a good Dad than a bad Dad but at the end of the day you will always be Dad.
My Dad died 11 years ago and as each year passes I realise more and more what a great Dad he really was and as I get older he is becoming Superman again in my eyes and my heart. I wish he was alive so that I could tell him just once ‘ thanks Dad for ALL you did ‘ but I guess I’ll just have to wait for that day to come. Though my Father was deaf the last 25 years of his life and it was difficult to communicate I remember best efforts to do so and bought him the best hearing aids alas these did not work to well and his lip reading skills were not the best.
My children like all Dads say are great. Some days they are in all honesty a bigger challenge than other days and sometimes I look at them and think ‘ yes you got it right ‘ but the main thing for them is that they see their Dad try. To see their Dad love their Mum is perhaps the best example of being a good Dad. Some Dads are absent often through no fault of their own but they are still Dad and quirkily absence can make the heart grow fonder. I often think of Joseph who stepped up to be a Dad without the pleasure of Manufacturer and some Dads in this position get the blessing of being just like Joseph.
Our Father in heaven is of course a prayer and He is the ultimate Father who really will never let you down and really does qualify in the Superman role if any does. The greatest love of any Father must be to give up the life of their son and He did just that to save others. Abraham was tested to see if he would sacrifice his own son Issac and he passed that test only to get a last second reprieve as the ram wandered on stage as substitute and in so doing showed again the constant provision of The Father.
We love our children we thank God for their lives and as our sons become Fathers we pass on the baton in the race called life. We are all in the line and lineage of Fatherhood and we should enjoy it , embrace it always with our best. For those who choose to be Farther away from their kids always remember that you will always be Dad and like the prodigal son there is room for the prodigal Father. In the story of the Prodigal son it is the expectant Father outside waiting for his sons return and on seeing him running to meet him. That image is of course the Father’s heart and as we throw that party and wrap best garment around them we see love in action and the actions of love .
For those who don’t know their Dad then look up He’s there. For some today will be difficult and for some like the school report there is ‘ room to improve ‘ but celebrate that , today is your day and that you’re special. Be the Father that you had or wanted but most of all try mimic the Father above. Most of all enjoy today it’s not the longest day for nothing.
qbitblogger 