Father’s Day is this coming Sunday. Don’t forget it. I thought so far ahead that I thought it was this past Sunday. Boy was I wrong…
Every year since I can remember, with the exception of a few, my dad hasn’t been home on Father’s day. It’s not that he’s off working or doing something mundane. Nope. It’s not that at all.
My mom and I were talking about this on Sunday over lunch and errands across town. My dad worked a lot growing up because he felt this pressing need to support our family, which was great. If he hadn’t of worked his butt off we would have been in some pretty hairy situations. I learned a good work ethic from my dad along with a host of other things. But because he worked a lot, he wasn’t around much.
And him and I have talked about this. I went through a season of grieving and forgiveness not too long ago, thinking about the opportunities my dad and I missed out on together.
But God has a way of redeeming things.
The thing I’ve learned about being a parent (no worries – I don’t have kids) I’ve learned from my own mother and father and those others that I love and respect. They spend 18- 20 years raising kids and then their homes become empty; they’ve essentially become professional parents and they have no way to exercise that.
A few years ago my dad realized what he missed out on in my life… and he set out to redeem it. I’ve had the conversations with him and released him from the burden of memories lost. But I am ridiculously proud of my dad. Instead of sitting inside of an empty home regretting the past… he’s creating new memories. And he’s not just creating them with me.
My dad has been actively involved in the Boy Scouts since I was a kid. Yes, I’m an Eagle Scout – I wouldn’t have gotten there without him. He started as a parent volunteer, then became a leader that oversaw all of us little leaders in the troop. And then when I graduated from the Scouts, he stayed involved. Why?
So for the last several years my dad’s been a father-figure for a lot of young boys that are fatherless. He’s gone to their music concerts, he’s gone to their sporting events, graduations and he’s made himself available 24/7 to be there for these guys… these kids without dads.
This is one of the reasons that I’m really proud of my father. He’s learned from his mistakes and he’s easily redeemed them. Instead of taking his professional parenthood to the grave… he’s using it on others, which is why he’s gone for a week with some of these kids to Scout camp.
Our society is growing up young men without fathers, but I’m proud to say that I have a dad who’s actively fighting that by being a father to many.
