UNCOMMEN DadsSample

UNCOMMEN Dads are There

According to Zeph 3, our Heavenly Father is always present, strong, delighting, and celebrating over us.

My father and I have one story. And he shares it to this day. When I was 7 years old he took me on an epic fishing trip with his buddies. We drove somewhere far beyond the mountains to a fishing hole. To get there we had to jump across a cliff! With my push button toy fishing rod in one hand, I clung to his back and he cleared the crevasse. He was so strong in my eyes. His other fishing comrades were also former Marines, trading stories from their days in the Corps.

After about an hour my dad’s fishing pole started bending dramatically. Something large was on the other end. The trash talking picked up: “Donald, you’ll never reel that one in!” They were right. His pole snapped in half. Instead of offering sympathy, his buddies jeered him. Nevertheless, my dad didn’t give up. He turned to me and asked if he could use my pole to continue fishing. Would you believe it; he ended up pulling in the largest catch that day! He was my hero that day.

There were plenty of other times that my dad took me out and gave me gifts or cash, but nothing ever came close to “the fishing story.” As a kid, I loved his laugh, his jokes, his stories. I still do.

I don’t think my dad set out to do something EPIC that day - he just took me fishing. But his presence on a little excursion turned into an epic story.

Our Heavenly Father is always present. He doesn’t need to take off work to be with us. Most of us don’t have that luxury. So when you have those moments to be present with your kids, be truly present. Move from screen time to face time. Race down the grocery store aisles. Dig into your kids hearts with a thoughtful question. When you are fully present as dads, it has the potential to make everyday moments uncommon.