Only You

Happy Fathers's Day

Suppose I were to tell you that God chose me, and only me, to do something so special and so important that He would not entrust it to anyone else. What do you think it could possibly be?

Could God have found someone with more education? Absolutely.

Someone with more wisdom? Of course.

Someone with more patience, more money, more time, more experience, or more talent? Without question.

Yet knowing all of that, He still chose me.

Now if you’re a father reading this, Happy Father’s Day.

Because God has chosen you, and only you, to do something no one else can.

He chose you to be the father of your children.

He did not choose another man to be my son’s father. He chose me.

He did not choose another man to be your child’s father. He chose you.

And if you’re a stepdad, don’t skip over this. God may not have chosen you to give them life, but He may have chosen you to help shape it. Never underestimate the power of a man who chooses to love a child he didn’t have to.

Here’s what amazes me most.

God didn’t choose you because He couldn’t see your flaws.

He chose you knowing every flaw.

Every weakness.

Every failure.

Every regret.

Every mistake you would ever make.

He saw it all...

...and He chose you anyway.

That is grace.

Now comes the million-dollar question.

What will you do with the assignment God has given only you?

It’s easy to tell our children we love them, and they need to hear those words.

But do our actions speak as loudly as our words?

Do we love according to what our children need, or according to what is convenient for us?

I’m not proud to admit it, but I’ve said those words.

“Not today. Maybe tomorrow.”

Sometimes I was tired.

Sometimes I thought I was too busy.

Sometimes I honestly believed what I was doing was more important.

I was wrong.

Your time is worth far more to your child than twenty dollars here and ten dollars there.

Will your son remember the twenty dollars you handed him?

Or the fishing trip where he had your full attention?

Will he remember the ten dollars you gave him for a movie?

Or the afternoon the two of you spent side by side making an old hand-me-down surround sound system work?

Will your daughter remember the five dollars?

Or the piggyback rides...

...the laughter...

...the times you threw her into the lake and caught her before she hit the water?

Children spell love differently than adults.

They spell it:

T-I-M-E.

But what if your child never gets another “tomorrow?”

What if your “maybe tomorrow” becomes “never today?”

What if, after hearing “maybe” enough times, they simply stop asking?

Remember this.

God chose you, and only you, for this assignment.

Children really do learn what they live.

So don’t stop at telling your children you love them.

Become the kind of father they will love to remember.

And years from now, when someone asks your children about their dad, may they smile before they answer.