As we celebrate Father’s Day this month, I ponder the word “father.” It has evolved and mutated from what it originally was. In the old days, a child lived with a father he was born to.
Today, a child may live with his stepfather; orphans may live with a relative who acts as their father; an adopted child may live with an adoptive father; and many more permutations.
A father’s role is no longer fixed on the birth father. It is on someone who is willing to be a father. It is in this light that I want to share with you stories of three fathers I admire greatly: Butch, Joe, and Paul.
Butch. He is a successful production designer and a bachelor. Years ago, a baby was left at his doorstep with a note, “I am so poor I cannot take care of my baby. Please take care of him for me.”
Butch says that was the happiest day of his life. After profusely thanking the Lord for this unexpected blessing, he went about being a father to the child whom he named Eman. He read parenting books, consulted with real fathers, and most of all, he taught Eman to love God.
Eman has been a consistent honor student and will soon enter college to pursue a career.
Joe. He left for the US to marry his American girlfriend. Unfortunately, they never had any children. One summer, when Joe came to the Philippines for a vacation, he met Sandra (aged seven), daughter of his distant cousin who was addicted to alcohol and jobless.
When Joe got back to the US, he regularly sent Sandra money for her education and other needs. He likewise often wrote her—encouraging her to dream and to always love her father no matter how he is. Sandra is now a nurse and working in a US hospital. She supports her father and regularly writes him about how much she loves him.
Her father has stopped drinking and serves as a janitor in the village church.
Paul. Although he was not related to Timothy by blood, he referred to Timothy as “my true child, my beloved child, my dearest son.” His letters to Timothy are now two chapters in our Bible.
Paul has said so many encouraging words to Timothy but this particular verse always touches me: “Kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us the spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” 2 Timothy 1: 6-7
What do these fathers—Butch, Joe, and Paul—have in common?
Unshaken love for their children. It is the same unshaken love we have been promised by our heavenly Father in Isaiah 54:10: “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
I looked up other Bible translations and here’s what I found:
- My steadfast love shall not depart from you. (New KJV)
- My unfailing love for you will not be shaken. (English Standard)
- I will remain loyal to you. (New Living)
- My loving kindness will not be removed from you. (NEB)
- My love for you will never end. (MSG)
- My kindness shall not depart from thee. (King James)
My own translation: “No matter how many times you have wronged me, I still love you. You disowned me, but I bled and died for you. Through storms and tsunamis and earthquakes, my love for you is unshaken.”
Everyone therefore—orphans, adopted children, children abused by their father, and children of fathers who have left the home—has a Father.
This, to me, is what Father’s Day is all about. It’s about all the fathers out there who are trying hard to emulate the unshaken love of the Father of all.
Can any ending be happier?
(This is a reprint of my regular column “Happy Endings” in "Moms and Kids" magazine. It is my own celebration of the grace of our unshaken Father upon fathers on terra firma.)
6 comments:
it's so touching..
Remember Butch? He told us about his story in one of our shoots for a toothpaste brand--centuries ago.
Hi mam! My name is Len from Bacolod City. I have read Gifts of Grace Books 1-3 and I just would like to say thank you for sharing the wonderful stories of the people who made a difference in your life.
I used to write for our school paper, and I have always kept in mind what you said in Gifts of Grace 3 when you shared the story behind your hero Mateo: "creative writing is not about flare and glare; it's about looking into people's hearts and transforming what you see into words so familiar that readers see their own lives- not the writer's."
Reading your book made me look at writing in a different perspective. It taught me that writing is all about connecting to people and not about basking in glory when a writer sees her name in print.
Thank you very much, mam. Indeed God has so many wonderful ways of teaching us lessons in life.
I hope and pray that your writings will continue to touch the hearts and minds of young people like me. Thank you very much and God bless!
I am always overwhelmed when someone tells me she/he has read my book and has been touched by it. May your writing journey be likewise strewn with life lessons you could share with others. Thank you, Len, for touching my life as well with your letter.
Lovely, Grace! Thanks for another gracious reminder of the unselfish love He so generously gave us.
Amazing love, amazing grace.
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