My Dad

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Every morning, I take my children to God in prayer, asking that they would recognize their need for him, and that they’d invest in their relationship with him daily. I ask God that if my kids don’t see their need for him, that he would reveal it to them, even if it hurts. I do this because I believe that their relationship with their heavenly father is the most important relationship in their lives – even more important than their relationship with me. I don’t just pray about it though, I tell them, regularly imploring them to daily invest in their relationship with God. I’m sure they get tired of hearing it, but I need to know that I’ve done whatever I can to pass on this most important life lesson.

This of course, is something that my father passed on to me. Though he didn’t say it in the way that I say it, he has lived it. My father was the pastor of our church before I was born and so, I grew up hearing him preach every Sunday, pointing me and his congregation towards God. Every family meal began with a prayer, thanking God for what he’d given us. We even did family devotions, daily reading from the Bible together. My Dad’s life has been one immense beacon, continually pointing me to God, and for that, I’m profoundly thankful.

My father’s efforts probably didn’t turn out exactly the way he would have planned. I’m sure he was grieved, watching me struggle through the years of my addiction, wondering how my story would end. It was in that pain and misery though, that his faith became my faith. It was in that calamity that I remembered my upbringing and returned to the God to which my father had always been pointing me. This is why I pray how I pray for my kids – If they don’t see their need for you, reveal it to them, even if it hurts. I pray this way because I know from my experience that I need God, and I want my kids to recognize that they need him too.

I’m sure neither my dad nor I have been perfect fathers. Parenting is hard and we’re all flawed people. My father loved me enough though, that he instilled in me the most important lesson he could. I’d like for my kids to one day be able to say the same about me. So, daily, I will try to live like my dad – modeling for my kids the most important lesson of our lives.

Thanks dad! I love you!