Father’s Day 2013

Fathers have been given a weighty role in the family. They bear on their shoulders the yoke of exemplifying that foundational facet of the relationship between Almighty God and His children. And, what a burden it is! Even among non-believers, I’ve never met a person who was unfamiliar with the idea that God is like a Heavenly Father. It’s the most prevalent spiritually-relational idea that I know. And, fathers feel its weight.

When the weight is too much, when a father’s strength of character can’t stand the idea, the family is fractured; he feels the disappointment though he may deny it. Our culture has become intimately familiar with the agonizing permutations of this broken trust. We desperately need admirable fathers. We flounder about without them.

Every Father’s Day, I am reminded of how incredibly blessed I have been by my father, George Hefner. Because of him, I can only offer a spectator’s observations on the effects of paternal absenteeism; I haven’t had to recover from the emotional scarring of a fractured family. For as far back as I can remember, he has had the strength of character to bear his God-given role to exemplify what a father is. Because of his example, I have never been phased by the thought that the Good Father is Love [1Joh 4:8].

In his first preserved letter to the Corinthian church, the apostle Paul covered a wide range of subjects, but probably most well known are his words on love. Love is… many things; first of all, “Love is patient…” [1Cor 13:4]. Some translations say “long-suffering” because patience borne of love is all about endurance for the sake of what could be.

My dad is patient. I doubt that he’s always been so, but he has definitely had a good handle on it since I’ve been around. In his manner of dealing in my teenage years with the fathers of my Boy Scout peers, in his willingness to answer my young questions of why’s and how’s or my more current questions of which’s and when’s, in his way of thinking before he speaks, in his constant consideration of my mom (together or apart) in word and in deed, in just about every way I can think, my father is an excellent example of loving patience. I continually pray that God would make me more like my dad, that God would give me the enduring strength to love like my dad does (which is a shadow of how God does).

I could easily write about my parents for days without striving to avoid negatives. No parents are perfect, but all of my friends reverse-adopt my parents as their own. Because my father and mother honor God, it’s easy for me to honor them [Exo 20:12].

Dad, I know that you would be the first to attribute your success as a father to mom’s love and support, to your upbringing by your own parents, and to God’s grace; I’m sure you’d be right. Your record is pretty solid. All the same, I see your efforts and I’m really proud to be called your son. Thanks for all you do. I love you. Happy Father’s Day!

[Pro 17:6] Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

—-

To anyone whose experience has been different from my own, please believe me when I say that the way God loves you and longs to be the perfect Father to you is enough. My God, my Heavenly Father, can heal your wounds and transform them into stories [Psa 147:3, Isa 61:1]. And, He will if you’ll let Him. You only need to ask [Luk 11:13, 1Joh 5:14-15]; take a step to Him and He will run the rest of the way to meet you [Luk 15:20]. He is the helper of the fatherless [Psa 10:14, 68:5-6].