A Good Father.

“A good father is one of the most unsung,
unpraised, unnoticed and yet
one of the most valuable assets in our society.”
– Billy Graham

This past Christmas, our second born was delighted to receive a Daisy pellet gun from her grandparents. Yes, it was something she was hoping for!!

 

 

After a long, lengthy and serious drawn out safety-lesson with her grandpa and dad, she’s been anxiously waiting to get out and practice with her new gun…

This week, her dad and Lyla spent some time outdoors practicing – a definite highlight for our energetic daughter, whose love language is most certainly quality time.

 

{turns out, she has great aim and I think she hit her target every time!}

 

While, 10 years after becoming parents,  Abby and I still working on getting this parenting thing right, I’m thankful today for a man who takes time for his five daughters. It doesn’t mean he has the luxury of loads of time to spend at home, long days off or an easy career choice (a funeral director is a very demanding job – something hard to explain to the general public), the moments he spends with his girls is quality time. Lyla – and her sisters – are blessed to call him daddy. When he has a day off,  the day’s schedule changes and we try to spend as much family time together as possible.

 

It seems, as mothers and wives, it is all too easy to complain and see the faults in our husbands (when the Bible so clearly states to look at the beam in our own eye first!) …  perhaps, we should make more of an effort to encourage our husbands daily – to say thank you more often, to be grateful for the hard workers they are, the good examples they are trying to set for their children. It’s not easy being a dad in this society – the world pulls them away, drags them into stressful work situations and constantly tries to take their precious time away with the anxiety and worries and trivial pleasures of the world.  Just lately, we have unofficially seen a rise in suicides of men in their late 30s and 4os. Perhaps they are burned out, stressed out, tired, exhausted and distant from their children and families.

But if these husbands of ours are really trying to be the fathers they need to be, we, as women, need to say thank you and appreciate their effort.

 

 

I am not preaching to the world, but to myself.

 

It’s time more men step up and become godly fathers. But it’s also time more wives support them with love and respect. The rewards will be eternal.

 

 

February 24, 2014 - 9:49 pm

Sherri Smith Fabulous! Way to go Lyla. You have a good grampa C and a good daddy too. xo

February 22, 2014 - 6:51 pm

Catherine Hey Gillian!

Just wanted to pop by and say hello! I think of you often, and since you’re not on Facebook any longer, wanted to say a quick hi and send a long distance hug!

Congrats on baby-to-be! Your girls are growing and gorgeous! Hope all’s well.

xoxo,
Catherine

February 21, 2014 - 1:10 am

Alma Mater Hey there! I created a blog recently (with pseudonyms, in case you’re confused) and was just hopping around the blogosphere when I found you linked by another blog (Raising Arrows). So I thought I’d say hello to your blog-self from my blog-self. What a small world!

This is a beautiful post. Lyla looks so adorable in her red coat and pink gun — and so very focused, too!

February 21, 2014 - 12:59 am

Heather I wholeheartedly agree, wives should be doing this. I’m thankful you wrote this post because I need to be reminded that what I write on my blog must manifest in real life or it’s just writing. I love my husband and he’s a great father. I must always remember to let him know that 🙂