Being a Dad
Proverbs 4:1-5 – Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
As I lay in my bed writing this Father’s Day is coming up this weekend. But even more importantly, my children are growing older by the minute. I just left my ex’s house where my daughter was getting ready for her 8th grade formal. I remember growing up and going to middle school dances, but they were nothing formal and it was never an event to behold. Today, I was almost in tears as she emerged from the bathroom a beautiful young woman.
I looked at her and was so excited, saddened, joyous, scared, young and old all at the same time. My little girl. How did she get so big?
So I though I would run through a pictoral look at my kids as they have grown. I’m sorry this is more a sappy post about my family rather than something theologically poignant, but, hey, it’s Father’s Day weekend. I’m allowed to go down memory lane. 😉
3 John 1:4 – I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
I love some of the old pictures of my kids. When they were little, we could dress them up in so many different ways or take pictures of them in embarrassing moments and they wouldn’t care. It was like having a dog that you dress up in those ugly sweaters. I could pose my kids any way I wanted and it came out cute.
As they got older, they got into sports. When they were young we would take them on hikes when on vacation or have them take swimming lessons. As they got older, the sport of choice was soccer. Matt has been on the same team since he was 5. Kenzi has been on a different team almost every year. Their skills are amazing. As a dad, I have to believe they will both turn into Lionel Messi some day. That is my job.
Sometimes, injuries happen. Almost for the past 10 months, Matt has been tending to a knee injury that he received during soccer. 2 MRIs and a couple X-Rays later, we have no definitive answer to the problem. It continues to hurt him from time to time, but he just presses on and continues to play the game he loves until the doctors say he can’t.
Matthew 7:9-11 – Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
Next, I just want to give you a few pictures that shows you how my kids have grown up.
Proverbs 20:7 – The righteous who walks in his integrity— blessed are his children after him!
Every Christian dad wants their kids to grow up loving, fearing and worshiping the Lord. Now I am not naïve enough to think that my kids are ready to preach, but I do see them growing in the Lord almost every day that I have them. No, they are not perfect. Far from it. But then again, so is their dad. But they are covered by the blood of Jesus, and that is truly what matters.
At the end of the day, it is because this earthly dad has a Father in heaven that I can know that they are going to grow up just fine. It is never easy. I had a LOT of hair before these kids were born and now I am bald. You do the math. But I know that God is taking care of these little ones. They are growing up to be such beautiful men and women of God. I truly am blessed to call these two my own.
Psalm 127:3-5 – Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court.
boyradd 