Fatherhood

Fatherhood

The man sighed heavily as he sat in the waiting room of the hospital.  It had been hours already since they had arrived and his wife had gone into labor.  Finally he had left her side for a few minutes to walk outside and get some fresh air.  The anxiety was too much.  It shouldn’t be taking that long, should it?

           Rising from his seat, he made his way over to the nearby row of windows and stood gazing down at the parking lot below where the sun was just beginning to cast its morning rays as it peeked over the horizon.  Above the sunlight had already painted the sky in its array of dawn colors.

          He sighed again as his thoughts returned to his wife.  What if something was wrong?  Why was it so difficult?  Why was it taking so long?  Were there complications?  A noise came from behind, the sound of a door.  He turned and saw a nurse approaching where he stood.  Noting the smile on her face, relief and overwhelming joy suddenly replaced the prior anxiety.  Fatherhood.

Fatherhood is a beautiful thing.  It truly is.  It is a high occupation and calling instituted and designed by God.  Unfortunately, so many take the responsibility of being a father lightly as well as the concept of fathering.  In my opinion, at the very moment of conception, fatherhood begins and that man becomes responsible for a very real and very living child.  If he is man enough to father the child, he needs to be man enough to be a father to it.

Fortunately, I was blessed with that kind of father.  I was thinking last night of how I was going to begin describing my dad to the readers of my blog and the first words that came to my mind were, “Wow.  He is incredible.”

Incredible is an understatement though.  I cannot begin to express how much of any influence my dad has been in my life, my conception of the meaning of family, and the development of who I am today.  If it were not for my father, I would not be the person that I am.

My dad has taught me so much.  As much alike as I am to my mom, I’m truly much more like my dad than I realize.  He’s taught me to face life with courage and not to back down and be afraid to try new things.  He’s taught me to be bold in my opinions and my faith.  My admiration for him grows every day when he comes home telling us about his day at work and I watch as he brings his faith into his workplace unashamedly.  I inherited his ease of words.  Though he doesn’t write much, he has a remarkable gift of words when he takes the time to write and even verbally, his intentional and deliberate use of words is so moving.  I’ve also gained his ability to conceal my emotions.  I can’t remember the last time that I saw my dad cry, and I find that I too rarely display my deep emotions in the presence of anyone.  But when my dad prays, if I’m teetering on the edge of crying, his words always bring my tears in a torrent.

He’s taught me to work hard and to apply myself whole-heartedly at whatever task is before me.  He daily displays the sacrifice of love as he goes off to work as the breadwinner of our family so that my mom can stay home.  He models for me the love of my Heavenly Father and sets a standard for me of what a godly husband and father should be.  Ever since I was a little girl, he’s shown me that I’m a princess, a treasure, and that I’m special and should be treated by any boy as such.  He displays for me the characteristics of a godly man and what it means to be a real man in the truest sense of manhood- a man’s man.  He’s taught me leadership as he guides our family as the godly head of our home.  He’s taught me how to dream.  I remember many years ago he told me to “dare to dream even when the world around you can’t.”  I’ll never forget those words.  They have motivated me more than he knows.  He believes in me and encourages me.  Even now as I begin the journey of attempting to start my career as an author, he continues to support me, telling me that he knows I’m “gonna make it” despite the intimidating world of publishing houses and agents and the book-market.

My dad has faithfully always provided for our family even when it was difficult to do so.  I can’t remember a time in my life when we were ever at a need for necessities.  He provides for our family not only financially, but also just as importantly, he provides for our family emotionally.  He supports us through hard times, joined my mother in raising and nurturing my siblings and me, and I have never doubted once in my entire life that my dad loves our family- my sisters, my mom.  That he loves me.

I’ll never understand everything that goes through a father’s mind, but after recently writing a story from a father’s perspective and being forced to ponder the emotions of a dad, I certainly appreciate perhaps more than ever now my dad and the sacrifices that he makes.  He was such an inspiration in that book as I modeled the character’s family life and interaction with his wife and children after the life of my own father.  In that novel, I asked myself, “What are the characteristics of a true hero?”  After completing the novel and the journey of discovering the answer to that question, I can honestly say that my dad is a hero.  He’s my hero, and I’m so proud to be his daughter.

Last year, a movie called Courageous came to the theaters.  If you have not seen the movie, I highly encourage you to do so and to support the producers Sherwood Pictures in their attempt to make Christian family movies with a strong godly message.  The story has a powerful theme of godly fatherhood.  Its soundtrack also has some great songs about fatherhood, but truthfully, I most liken my father’s life and his heart to the song Family Man by country singer Craig Campbell.  In fact, it’s one of my favorite songs in general.  It gives such a beautiful depiction of family life and the motivation of a family man.  And that is my father.  My dad’s world revolves around the Lord and his family.  We are the motivation for why he does what he does, why he works as hard as he works, why he pushes himself to be all that he is.  I’m so proud of him.  Below is a list of the other father songs I have in the collection on my iPod.  Many of them are father-daughter songs, but not all of them are.  The asterisks indicate my favorites.

Drive by Alan Jackson

*Family Man by Craig Campbell

It Won’t Be Like This For Long by Darius Rucker

Always Be Your Baby by Natalie Grant

Watching You by Rodney Atkins

*Cleaning This Gun (Come On In Boy) by Rodney Atkins

*Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

My Little Girl by Tim McGraw

Just Fishin’ by Trace Adkins

                Last night I stopped and pondered what my life would be like without my father.  My mom has had a tremendous influence in my life as well, but I concluded that without my father my character and personality would not be the same as it is.  I would perhaps not have had the opportunity to be homeschooled by my mom, and I might not be living in the state of Georgia where I live now.  If it were not for my father, I would not even exist as the person of Julia Marie.  It’s a startling thought.  Just think about where you might be right now if it were not for your father.

            Earlier in the year, my dad had to take several business trips up north for his work.  He was gone almost every other week and would be away the entire week, returning on the weekend- sometimes Thursday, sometimes Friday.  For the first time in my life, I got a glimpse of what life is like without a father.  I’m not ashamed to admit that I was brought to an episode of tears one morning because I missed him so much.  Our family was incomplete; there was always something missing from the atmosphere in our home.  Never before had I realized what a vital role my dad plays in the happiness and completeness of our family and how much I look forward to seeing him when he comes home from work in the evenings.  I don’t always show it, I don’t always even realize it, but instinctively my routine, the completeness of my day, depends upon the moment he arrives home.  We take our fathers and their roles so much for granted I realized.

Tomorrow is Father’s Day.  I encourage you to take the time to thank your dad for everything that he does and has done for you and your family.  Let him know how much you appreciate his sacrifices and time and how much you love him.  And if you don’t know your father- have never had your father’s influence in your life- take the opportunity to thank a man that has influenced and impacted your life or has perhaps even been a father-figure to you.  Most importantly though, remember that no matter what your situation is, you have a Heavenly Father.  His Word tells us that He is a “father to the fatherless,” (Ps 68:5) and He loves you more than you know.  Like our earthly fathers though, He too deserves to be thanked more than just on Father’s Day.  Take the celebration of the day as an opportunity to let your dad know just how much he means to you but don’t let a whole year go by before you tell him again.  Thank him and tell him how much you love him on a regular basis.  Dads are too important in our lives to be left behind in busy schedules.

“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction…” Proverbs 13:1

 ~We’ve all heard of the phrase “pulling on her/ his heartstrings,” but heart-chords?  I was struggling to decide what to name my blog.  I wanted it to be a name that was both creative and meaningful.  As I pondered, my gaze fell upon my acoustic guitar where it stands in my bedroom, and the Lord reminded me that our hearts- our lives- are instruments.  They are constantly in song, but what melody our heart plays is each of our own decisions.  They can play a melody for praise or for entertainment.  A musician selects his songs according to his audience.  So do we.  Whether our audience is the world or the Lord, our song will be different.  This blog is designed to first, increase my awareness in finding God and His guidance in my every day and second, to share the music lessons He teaches me in tuning my heart to learn the chords of praise He longs to play on my heart-instrument.  Music is a powerful tool.  Use it for His glory.  “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.” Psalm 40:3