And now a word to you fathers. Don’t make your children angry by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)

    How dedicated are you as a parent?

    Do you ever feel you’re just killing time until your children grown and out of the house?

    Do your children seem to be an inconvenience to you?

    Do days, weeks, or months pass by without any meaningful instruction, guidance, or training?

    Consider this:

What’s so special about this letter is...

    Each year on the boy’s birthday, he runs to the mailbox with anticipation of reading a letter that is addressed to him from his father. He’s been doing this every year for as long as he can remember. What’s so special about this letter is that this little boy has never met his father. You see, this boy’s father died from cancer prior to his birth. However, the father, in spite of his limitations, wanted to be the best father to his son that he possibly could be. So, before he died, he wrote 18 birthday letters to his son and left instructions with his wife to see to it that these letters were mailed each year. He also wrote a couple special letters for when his son turned sixteen and would begin driving, for graduation, and for when he was to be married. These letters were letters of instruction, advice, counsel, and love from a father who took parenting seriously.

    You have to love the heart of this father. You can understand why this boy ran to the mailbox to receive his letters. How special and how treasured the words of this boy’s father must have been to him. However, it should be no different with those of you who are reading this and who have been blessed with good health. The words of instruction, training, counsel, and love that you can give daily to your children are just as important. It may not seem like it at the present, but when your children have grown and developed into mature adults, they will also treasure the instruction, counsel, and love that you offered to them. They will recognize that these gifts helped to mold them into who they would eventually become.

    May we all learn from this father who did the best he could do to be the best father he could be to his son.

 

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Title: "A Dedicated Father"
Author: Steve Higginbotham
Publication Date: July 31, 2003