Today I was at the park with my little cousin. I played basketball with him for awhile and then sat on the court to watch him play with his friends. A couple minutes later I see a little boy (age 4-5) running up the hill by the courts and running behind him was his dad. The little boy was laughing and smiling so big, his dad was chasing him laughing too.
The little boy had his own little ball and his dad a regular basketball. They played together on the basketball court for a little bit but since the little boy was still small he couldn't get the ball in the basket so his dad lifted him onto his shoulders and helped lift him up to put the ball in the basket. The little boy again was smiling and laughing. They played for a while more and then started playing (tackling, wrestling, tickling) in the grass area. The little boy never stopped smiling or laughing.
Fathers are very important in a child's life. In our world today there are many kids growing up without fathers for many different reasons. There are kids hurting daily because of the absence of their fathers/mothers. I think boys look up to their father for that guidance and to do that male bonding with to make the boy grow up strong and become the protector of his own family some day. I think the girls look to their daddys for the meaning of what love really means.A girl is her daddys little princess and the first prince charming the little girl meets is her daddy.
Watching that little boy and his dad today made me think back to a movie "Courageous". If I've ever been touched by any movie it's that movie. In the movie Emily (the little girl) asks her daddy to dance with her in the grass of the bank parking lot. Too scared to be embarrassed the dad says "I'm dancing with you in my heart" and so the little girl begins to show him how to dance. In the movie, the little girl dies in a car wreck. The dad is laying in bed one night and has a dream of that day when she was dancing in the grass and he wakes up crying saying "I should've danced with her." That event in his life brought him back to Gods word and he begins studying on how to become a better father to his 15 year old son, who he had an estranged relationship with. His son loves to run and had been trying to get his dad to run with him in a 5k race before the accident. During the fathers journey in scripture about learning how to become a better father he creates this resolution to stand up and be the man and father God has called him to be. My point is cherish every moment cause it isn't promised.
For those of you who don't have your father in your life, I know it hurts, and I know you look at children with their dad wishing you could have that. Maybe you don't know your dad, maybe your dad has chosen not to be part of your life, maybe your dad has chosen a lifestyle of drugs/alcohol over having a relationship with you, maybe your dad passed away, maybe your parents are divorced and you live with your mom and never see your dad much. My encouragement to you is hold on to God. I know it may sound cliche but when you encounter his love you will know what the love of a father is. He may not be able to physically be here with you but he is in your heart if you've accepted him.
My point is, today as I watched the little boy and his dad I kept thinking about writing this blog. I know many of my teen friends go trough this feeling of wishing they had this father figure in their life because their father is absent in their life. In a way I'm thankful I can relate because I can write this knowing how it feels. I also know that Jesus loves us, and because of that we can understand the real meaning of love. Jesus will never leave us, never give up on us, never get mad at us, and will never walk out on us. I believe that's why it's so hard sometimes because we can not fully understand how deep, how wide, how great God loves us. We compare our relationship with Jesus to that of a human relationship. We think that if we mess up and sin, he will leave us and get mad at us. That's not true. He loves us, he loves us so much that he sent his own son to die on a cross. That blood that came from his body shows the meaning of love, because his blood heals us, restores us, helps us, saves us, heals our broken hearts, and gives us strength to make it through this life.
Heres what we can do, we can love our fathers and pray for them. This generation can break the cycle of fatherless homes by loving God and serving him in our lives. Young men can choose to be the father and husband to their kids and wife that God has called them to me and young women can be the mother and wife God has called them to be by serving God and devoting their life to him so that in both their lives/marriages/parenting God is number one, God is the center, and it all revolves around him in our daily lives.
"We were made to be courageous, we were made to lead the way, we could be the generation to finally break the chains" - Casting Crowns song Courageous.
Be encouraged,
Tiffany Elaine.
No comments:
Post a Comment