August 3

 UNITY is salvation for our children

 Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.  ~ Proverbs 17:6

You cannot give quality time unless you give a quantity of time.  You need to be there.  Be alert for those priceless irreplaceable moments when your child needs to belt down a strong gulp of Dad.  To be honest, most of the time you spend with your children will be wasted.  What they do is suddenly – no one can predict when – open up, and take a long swig of Dad.  Then they go back to their preoccupation and put you in a holding mode again.   

In a national survey, men complained that ‘time’ keeps them from being the family shepherd they want to be.  It may be true that men are overscheduled and exhausted.  But it’s not a question of time.  A man does what he wants to do.  His busy schedule reveals his priorities, not his unavailability.  He chooses his top priorities and makes sure they get scheduled.

Is any career worth the life of your child?  When put in this way, of course not.  The problem is that men don’t see their choice in stark black-and-white terms.  They make gray choices not knowing they darken gradually.  The subtle lie is he doesn’t have to choose, he can have it all if he plays his cards right.  Double up here, cut corners there, and juggle the rest.

My advice, men, is save your children.  The world is full of fathers who will sell out their family for bucks and booty.  Well, let them.  Let the dead bury the dead.  But, not you.  A holy calling and ordination summons you to practice the profession of fatherhood.  ~ Dave Simmons, adapted from Dad the Family Counselor

Fathers, do you hear the call?

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