In honor of father's day I have a story. This is not to take away from our Heavenly Father as he should be the primary focus in all our lives. This is a story about fathers who have impact on lives they may not even know.
So my dad left when I was three. He had zero impact on our lives as kids or as adults. As with many in that situation if we are lucky, someone or a couple people step into our lives and have impact on our outcome in life. My grandfather taught me work ethic as a business owner. Thank You. My father-in-law is the only person I have ever heard say he believed in an honest day's work, for an honest day's pay-and I know he has lived that. Thank You. Then there was another man... it was the neighborhood father. Maybe you had one too?
In our neighborhood we had a couple kids whose impact from their fathers was not what one would hope for or whose personal situation could have just been better. Our neighborhood father took us all in. I know this for a fact because as adults I have spoken to the other kids and we all agree, he was our dad even if he didn't claim us on his taxes. As boys he allowed us to hang out with him, learn about tools, hang with his family, fed us, and taught us about life, the pizza nights, treated us like one of his own, all of which led us to become men, good men, and yes even better fathers. Many days he was stressed and I am sure it was because he had so many of us all there all the time (he had four daughters on his own so you know he was stressed-haha). It was the place we hung out, but it was our family too and he allowed us to be included in things we didn't have in our own lives. He will never know the full impact he has had on us boys, but today as his family and his daughters honor him, we do too. Thank you Bob for your impact on our lives and helping to make us better men and men of character. We could not have done it with you,
We would also say thank you and honor all of the neighborhood dad's, coaches, and mentors in your lives. They do have impact. They do make a difference, and on the days it seems like you are not getting through, it is worth it. I speak from experience.
Being a father, and yes now even a grandfather is truly an honor and a blessing.
Happy Father's Day! God Bless.