Chuck Foreman – Teaching Pastor

Talking about fatherhood, especially on a special day like Father’s Day, is a tough challenge. Behavioral psychologists tell us that good fathers are essential to the healthy, emotional development of their children. So if your kids aren’t doing so well, how does that leave you feeling, as a father, and on Father’s Day, of all days?  Or, if you know you missed out on the blessing of a good dad—maybe he was a pathetic excuse for a father, as far as your concerned, how are you supposed to feel good about that on Father’s Day? Or what if your dad is gone, whether he was a good dad or a rotten dad, either you miss him or you live with the constant regret of never having had a good dad, like some people you know who did have good dads—what is it that you need to hear on Father’s Day, or any day, for that matter?  Are you feelin’ me? 

It’s hard to know where to begin—talking about Fatherhood.  At the end of the day, I guess those of us who are dads need to get passed the regret we feel for our failures as dads and seek God’s help to be better dads.  Those of us who missed out on the blessing of having a good dad, need to somehow let God fill that role for us—be the dad we never had.  And those of us who had great dads, or still have them, need to get down on our knees and thank God above for that priceless gift.

With all the heartache over fatherhood in our society and in many of our lives, I’m reluctant to even talk about my own dad, because he was/is such an incredibly good dad. To this day, whenever I’m facing an overwhelming challenge or decision, I can honestly ask myself, “What would Dad do?”, and I’ll know what I need to do, every time. (The trick for me, then, is just doing it!)  Now that’s the kind of dad I want to be for my kids.  Tall order, I know, but a worthy goal to strive for, don’t you think?