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Advice for fathers for Father's Day

Mrs. John B. Dodd of Washington State, who first proposed the idea of a Father’s Day in 1909, wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart.

Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife, Dodd’s mother, died in childbirth with their sixth child. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children alone on a rural farm in eastern Washington State.

It was after Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.

The first Father’s Day was formally observed June 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. Finally, in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day.

Let me suggest that you check out a verse in the Bible that gives two powerful recommendations for those seeking to be good fathers. It’s found in Ephesians 6:4 and shares two pieces of advice for fathers.

The first part of the verse said what fathers should do: “Fathers, do not exasperate your children…”

So, what exactly is it that will exasperate your children? Having raised five children and counseled hundreds of parents in the throes of raising children, here is a sample of some ways fathers may exasperate their children:

· Failure to listen to them

· Being overprotective

· Showing favoritism

· Pushing too hard for achievement

· Hurtful and discouraging comments

· Refusal to let them grow in responsibility

· Failure to allow for childishness

· Broken promises

· Impatience

The second part of that verse said what fathers should do; “…instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

The first part is “training” which involves so many things, including your example, how you respond to situations, whether or not you speak the truth in love, your methods of correction and discipline and so much more.

The second part is “instruction” which focuses on the wisdom you share with them and the counsel you give to them as they face the challenges that will inevitably come their way.

In his later years, Gen. Douglas A. MacArthur shared the following regarding becoming an effective father.

“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat and humble and gentle in victory.

“Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee…and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.

“Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high, a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.

“And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom and the meekness of true strength.

“Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain,’” MacArthur said.

 

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