Fathers

On June 20, 2016 I decided to write about fathers.  Fathers can have many different professions from being a doctor, teacher, pastor, manager, stay at home father, and many other types of jobs.  Depending on what work your father does can define what type of lifestyle you will grow up in.

If a child has a father that has passed away early on or he never was there to start with, then often the mother has to do both jobs of being a father and a mother.  In these cases, often another male will become their role model of what a father is.  This could be a brother, uncle, youth leader, teacher etc.

I have noticed over the years that no father is the same, which would make sense as no family is the same.  I knew a pastor’s family that had three daughters and the whole family was very close.  Often when a child grows into their teen years they start to pull away from their parents more, but I noticed this family was as close as ever.  I remember one time they came over to my parents’ place while I was living there.  It was so adorable as all three daughters were in their teens and they were on the couch cuddled up against their father.  I was touched by the affection that the daughters had for their father.

I have also seen fatherhood change people.  My brother became a father for the first time a little while ago and it’s like I’m looking at a different person.  He always puts his family first and I can tell he really loves his child so much.  I found growing up in my family that we didn’t express a lot of affection for each other, but we did know that we loved each other.  It’s amazing to see my brother showing his softer and loving side to his son and wife.

Growing up with my father I didn’t have the close relationship that I mentioned about the pastor’s family, but that was ok as not all fathers are able to connect on the same level as a mother does.  I have often seen it where mothers and daughters relate better than fathers do to daughters, which makes sense as they are both women and we tend to like to talk a lot.

I did find on practical matters I could rely on my dad.  He taught me how to save money, which I found really useful when I became older.  When I was living on my own I never had to worry about over-spending as I always knew how to budget my money.  He taught me how to save my money for the really important things like a school trip, car, education, etc. 

My dad would also protect me from the evil bugs we would sometimes get in the house.  I would see a wasp, hornet, large spider or otherwise and after I told my dad he would go and kill it for me.  I’d cheer him on after the bug was killed and all was safe in the house again ;).

There were other things that we connected on, like watching the Olympics.  We always loved cheering on our Canadian athletes in whatever sport that was going on.  We would both sing O Canada whenever they sang it on TV as one of our athletes won gold.  It made us proud to be Canadians and it was something we could share together.

Another thing I really appreciated about my dad was when Nathan came into my life, my dad made him feel welcome from the very beginning.  Of course he joked in a sort of way of “what are your intentions with my daughter” when they first met, but after that my dad was very respectful of Nathan.  I could tell not long after my parents met Nathan in person they loved him like part of the family, even before we got engaged.  Then again how could they not when he made their daughter so happy.  It meant the world to me that not only my mom, but my dad approved of Nathan.  When we got married and Nathan was officially family, it felt the same, as my parents had gotten closer to him over our engagement.

There have been times since we have been married that we weren’t doing so well financially and my father let us both work for him, which I am really grateful for as it helped us through those hard times.  I know my dad doesn’t always express himself emotionally well, but I know that’s his way of saying he loves me.  I’ll take that, as I love him too.

Patricia <3 J

 

Psalm 103:13    As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

 

Here’s a song about that it feels like our life doesn’t make sense, when the mountains seem so big, and our faith seems so small, and we ask our Lord to hold us even as we are shaking like a leaf, that He is our Prince of Peace. When waking up in the darkness we continue to ask Him to hold us.  And it’s so hard for us to surrender, and we want to fight you, but in the end we fall on our knees and just want our Lord to hold us.

 

“Hold Me Jesus” by Big Daddy Weave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOon2xQNZX0&list=PL3whQX319DaB37iB8NZpJe206iSdpe3kc&index=141