The Faith of a Father

I thank God for my daddy.

He’s faithful, strong, and true.

He shows me what it’s like to know

God as my Father, too.—from Bedtime with Daddy by Nancy I. Sanders (©2022 by End Game Kidz)

My father was a Godly man, and I am thankful for the example he set before me.

Committed to his family, his church, his job, his community, his country, my father was my hero.

He was “the best hero around! I [knew I could] depend on him—He never [let] me down!”—from Amy Parker’s Thank You, God, for Daddy (©2011 by Tommy Nelson)

In the words of Dr. James Dobson, “A good father will leave his imprint on his daughter for the rest of her life.”

My father often exhibited the best qualities of iconic men such as Atticus Finch, Andy Griffith, Jim Anderson, Amos McCoy, John Walton, Guido Orefice, King Arthur, and King Solomon. He loved life and had a wonderful sense of humor.

He read and studied his Bible. He was an elder and a deacon in our church. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He visited the sick, mowed the widowed neighbor’s yard, and went door-to-door selling Bibles to supplement his factory income.

He believed in the “spare the rod and spoil the child” philosophy of discipline. While I was well-acquainted with his leather belt, I never doubted that he loved me.

He was always supportive and available when I asked for his sage advice. In the early days of my career, he stood by me as I struggled to be accepted as a young teacher without tenure.

I remember his coming to my rescue at 2:00 a.m. one winter night when a tree had fallen on my house during an ice storm. Until his untimely death of an aneurysm at the age of fifty-four, if I needed him, he was there for me.

I loved my father for many reasons: He was easy to talk to and fun to play with. He could be silly and still be cool. He was always there to catch me when I fell. (paraphrased from I Love Dad by Eric Carle, ©2017 by Penguin Random House)

Like Papa Bear in Mike Berenstain’s Father’s Day Blessings (©2018 by Berenstain Publishing, Inc.), my father loved to fish. We feasted on many a crappie growing up near Old Hickory Lake outside of Nashville. He also had a wonderful relationship with his father-in-law and enjoyed “God’s beautiful world” and “fishing for souls.” Like Papa Bear and Gramps, my father had “a feeling of peace deep, down inside” because of these beliefs.

As children, we see, we observe, we emulate those we love and respect. As adults, we are often unaware of the impact we have on those that God has placed in our care.

Fathers have traditionally played a vital role in nurturing the family. Even more importantly, today as we are surrounded by uncertainty and confusion, a father can be a beacon, a lighthouse, a candle in a darkened world.

I am truly thankful for my earthly father, the man who led me to know my heavenly Father.

I encourage fathers today to serve as moral role models for their children. I pray that fathers will take their children to church, teach them about God, and help them to make good decisions.

May we all look to Our Father, who art in heaven, and hallow His name.

“She did not stand alone, but what stood behind her, the most potent moral force in her life, was the love of her father.”—from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

“Sometimes I think my papa is an accordion. When he looks at me and smiles and breathes, I hear the notes.”—Markus Zusak

“It is a wise father that knows his own child.”—Shakespeare

Psalm 103:13; Exodus 20:12; Malachi 4:6; Proverbs 22:6; Matthew 6:33