Thank You for Fathers

John with Calvin and Paige and the sheep

Happy Father's Day to all the fine men out there. It is worth stretching the holiday out an extra day for all the countless things fathers do in the lifetime of their children. 

My father has been gone for 19 years already. He was a tender man who followed the Word closely. He loved the land and made it his farming goal to conserve the soil he was given to toil. He had a beautiful baritone voice and blessed many by singing for weddings (including mine), and funerals and leading choirs, and worship for the Iowa Veterans Home for many years.

My husband has been a father for 51 years. He spent the first few years dedicating his life to providing a living for his family. He absorbed all the knowledge around him, working his way up in the world, one step at a time. He brilliantly found ways to earn more for his family and slaved away during his free hours to improve our living situation. He coached ball teams as long as our boys played, and was at every game of every sport the boys were in. He showed the boys how important his faith was by being baptized as an adult while they watched. He did everything he could and more to meet the needs of his family. What a wonderful man he is.

The prophet Isaiah shared a prayer of King Hezekiah who spoke of the importance of passing the joy of the Lord from father to child, from generation to generation.

"The living, the living--they praise you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness," (Isaiah 38:19).

Father God, hear our prayers of thanksgiving for Your example of dedicated love for Your children. Thank You for sacrificing Your Son so we could have a relationship with You, free of our sins by Jesus on the cross. We pray in the glorious name of Jesus, Amen.