From the Desk of a Geek: Who Will

From the Desk of a Geek:

Who Will

We are a pretty busy family, and by all means far from perfect.

We argue, disagree, lose our tempers, and even sleep on couches 😀

Pest Control, Geeks With Grace Podcast, Youth Group, Church, the boys with their activities and now with Cathy finishing Nursing School, doing her preceptorship working 12 hour shifts at Georgetown Community hospital we need God more then ever to keep us grounded and at times bring us back to His priorities.

I thank God everyday for the blessings and responsibilities of being a dad. But sometimes it can be hard and alot of times it is scary being a father, especially what is going on in the world today.

I think sometimes we all need a gentle reminder how important our role as a father is.

We talk about our moms as the center of the family. And in certain critical ways, they always will be.

But as fathers we have just as important a role to play in the lives of our children that goes beyond carrying the family’s mantle of leadership. 

We must get back to the father’s traditional roles of provision and protection. A picture comes to my mind – a big, old tree in the backyard, an oak that spreads its branches across the sky like open arms, an oak that kids filled with energy run to in the morning or sit beside for comfort in the afternoon. 

I think of that feeling of unshakeable security, that sense of always being there for you.

What is the biggest crisis facing families today? Many feel that it is the failure of fathers to fulfill their God-given roles. In fact, according to a recent report issued by the National Center for Fathering, 72.2% of Americans believe that fatherlessness is “the most significant family or social problem facing America.”

The evidence about the influence of fathers on their children is overwhelming. A survey of more than 20,000 parents found that when fathers are involved in their children’s education, “children were more likely to get A’s, enjoy school, and participate in extracurricular activities and less likely to have repeated a grade.” 

Even one-year-olds with fathers who were involved were “less likely to cry, worry, or disrupt play than other one-year-olds whose fathers were less involved.”

The Bible tells us that the family unit was designed by God, and that the health of the family depends on every person fulfilling his or her role. The role of the man is particularly central, as a husband and as a father. Yet, tragically, millions of men today are failing to fulfill their role.

Fathers need to understand the impact they can have on the lives of their children and their wives. 

Paul warned fathers not to aggravate their children, or they might become so discouraged that they quit trying.

If you are a father, seek to become more involved in the lives of your children. “Don’t aggravate” them. Make sure to pray for all the fathers in your life. 

Our families urgently need men who fulfill the role God designed for them.

The need a child has for a father is well documented and fairly widely accepted. When a biological father is not available or willing to be a father, we believe that it is the role of the church, both corporately and individually, to stand in that gap. 

We serve a God who calls himself a Father to the Fatherless (Psalm 68:5). As His ambassadors here on earth, it is our role, our responsibility, to act on His behalf in that capacity. Yes, it is time for fathers stand up for their families and for their kids, but it is also time that we, the church, have the courage to stand up for these kids who have no father and point them towards their Heavenly 

Prisons are full of men and women who loved recklessly after being abandoned by their fathers, wounded by the men who should have loved them the most. Many now follow the same pattern of irresponsibility that their fathers did.

While so many mothers have sacrificed to help their children survive. 

They were never intended to carry the weight alone. We thank God for them.

Research is proving that a child also desperately needs a father. There’s no way around this fact! I believe that God desires every father step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. 

More than just being there or providing for them he’s to walk with them through their lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their Father in Heaven. 

A father should love his children and seek to win their hearts. 

He should protect them, discipline them, and teach them about God. 

He should model how to walk with integrity and treat others with respect and should call out his children to become responsible men and women who live their lives for what matters in eternity.

I tell you as a father, and a Minister of the Gospels you are accountable to God for the position of influence he has given you. 

You cannot fall asleep at the wheel only to wake up one day and realize that your job or hobbies have no eternal value, but the souls of your children do! 

God’s Word shows us that God desires for every father step up and do whatever it takes to be involved in the lives of his children. More than just being there for them or providing for them, he is to walk with them through their young and older lives and be a visual representation of the character of God, their Father in heaven. 

Who will accept the responsibility of providing and protecting your family?

Who will pray for  your children to boldly pursue whatever God calls them to do?

In my home, the decision has already been made. You don’t have to ask who will guide my family because, by God’s grace, I will. You don’t have to ask who will teach my sons to follow Christ because I will.

Will you for your family?

Lonnie