Father's Day--Reach Up and Let the Sun Stand Still

Today is Father’s Day and I am reminded of a story one preacher told about a page in his own family’s life. His five year old daughter stood waiting for him to get home from work. She was so excited. When he got there he told her he had to go out that evening. Her face began to sag. He explained that he had to speak at the church on "What a Good Father Ought to Be." Even as he told her where he would be the irony of it all hit him. So he asked her to help him write his speech for the evening. As they had dinner he told her they would play a game. She would think of something he ought to say about Good Fathers and when she thought of something she would come over to his chair and whisper that suggestion in his ear. He would write them down. Dinner proceeded. The little girl got up out of her seat several times and whispered in her father's ear. Her mood lifted and by the time he had to leave she was fine.

He looked at the list of the things that she had whispered in his ear. What does a good father do? She had told her Daddy:
                                1) He catches a fish. 
                                2)  He builds a fire.
                                3) He flies a kite.
                                4) He catches a butterfly.
                                5) He plants a flower.
                                6) He gets a kitty-cat out of the mud
                                    and washes it off.

As the Preacher-father read his daughter's list it occurred to him that nothing on that list required money. Everything she had suggested required his being there.

The kids don't care what your job is or where you live. They couldn't care less about the kind of car you drive or the times your name is in the newspaper. They will remember, as long as they live, the special moments. The old book says that one day old Joshua reached up and stopped the sun. Time stood still. This is the father's task as well. Stop long enough to let them know you care deeply about them and let them know they are more important than any ticking clock. Let us celebrate this special day. Let us remember fatherhood. Let us remember more than anything the word, father, means being present and accounted for.

(The drawing above was one of many that Rembrandt did retelling the story of The Return of the Prodigal.)