They call me dad

A message of encouragement:

Jesus asked the questions makes the statement: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent, or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?”

As fathers, be us good, bad or ugly, we want to give our children, good gifts.

Today, I want to encourage you to do that, but not just with material things, you see, material things have a shelf life, they have an expiration date. There are some things that don’t expire:

Memories, stories. You know what I’m talking about, each family has stories to tell. Good, bad or indifferent, I want to encourage you to be a story teller to your children. Money, stuff and trips to Disneyland can only do so much.

Yesterday, I was tasked to tell a couple of stories to my granddaughter Jenevieve. It was tough, what do you tell a toddler that’s almost 3 years old? Well, I told her stories of when papa jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, told her about how I was saved by the Lord, told her about the day we brought Bubba home, it worked for a few minutes.

I reminded me of this scripture:

Psalm 78:1–8 “Listen, O my people, to my teaching. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will offer a parable with my mouth. I will pour out riddles from long ago, that we have heard and known, and our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling the next generation the praises of Yahweh, and his power and his wonders that he has done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach to their children, so that the next generation might know— children yet to be born— that they might rise up and tell their children, that they might set their confidence in God, and not forget the deeds of God, but keep his commandments, and not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not make ready its heart, whose spirit was not faithful to God.”

Be a story teller, whether you talk a lot or a little, whether you are better with power tools or a computer, tell a story. Tell it as best as you can, but tell it. Tell about the goodness of the Lord, tell about how he delivered you, tell how the Lord has provided, but tell it.

Tell it, whether you think you have done well, or if you think you have not done well. It is never too late.

The older I get, the more I appreciate my father. My father that never made me feel less than, always made me feel like I was his and not a step-child.

Thank you dads, tell your children.