7 For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
-Isaiah 61:7, KJV
Our society occasionally acknowledges the difficulty for mothers on Mother’s Day.
Sadly, we don’t do as good a job acknowledging the same for dads on Father’s Day. It as if our culture assumes dads do not want to be dads. This is false and compounds the pain of this day for those of us who really love our kids.
This post is for the faithful dads out there, and those who wanted to be dads. You have overcome a lot to be there for your kids.
One of the hardest parts of my divorce was not having kids. It was the death of a vision. I was told by a friend and mentor that there was still hope for me in that department. Yet, it was still a loss.
I know if I had had kids with my cheater things would have been MUCH harder. My hat is off to those of you, men, in this situation. The loss time with kids is a hard, hard loss to swallow.
This Father’s Day I want to acknowledge those loses. And I want to offer hope:
Be authentic. Kids grow up and will see that you were real. They will know your love for them was and is real. Be the sane parent.
For those wishing to have kids*… I can speak about that dream restored to me. Today, I am remarried and have a Munchkin by marriage. She fills my heart with laughter.
Finally, enjoy your day! It wonderful for the rest of the world to know decent and good men (and fathers) exist in this world.
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*I would add that there are many ways to be a father. Coaching, teaching, and mentoring are ways we can be “fathers” to those in our lives. God’s restoration might not look how we might envision it… But it is still very good!
