The Heart of A Father + Free Father’s Day Printable!

Growing up, the start of June signified the end of the school year, the first day of summer, my dad’s birthday, and Father’s Day.

I was especially fond of my father; even though he and my mother did not remain married, he took special effort to take care of me. Some of my best childhood memories were spent with him eating TV dinners, playing Atari, and eating strawberry sundaes and banana splits from Mr. Smiles Ice Cream Truck. That was the most popular ice cream truck I’d ever seen. We could see him when he turned onto the block “way down yonder place,” and by the time he reached us, it was almost dark! Good times. Good times.

Neither of my parents grew up in a Christian home, nor did they raise me to be a Christian. However, the Lord called me at the age of 17. When I married (at the age of 25) and moved South (I’m from the midwest) with my husband, I would write letters to my dad about having a relationship with the Creator of the Universe. After he had passed, I attended the funeral, and my uncle let me know that he had read those letters (since he was now in possession of my father’s stuff), and he made fun of me (I am praying for him). But as the Lord would have it, someone at the funeral informed me that my father had bowed his knee and made Jesus the Lord of his life before he went to be with Him.

Both my husband and I had the honor of leading our dads to our Heavenly Father. Ain’t He Good? All the time!

He’s A Good Good Father

The other day as I was taking my morning prayer walk, I noticed three sunflowers growing in the alleyway. I marveled as I stood there staring at one of my favorite flowers blooming in my backyard! (so to speak). The thing about it, though, was that the flowers were turned around the other way. So, I prayed: “Father, if they are not enjoying those flowers over there, can you turned them around?” My daughter Chastity walks out, and I point the flowers out to her, and I tell her about my prayer. She says, “Cool!”.
The next day as I am showing the flowers to my daughter, Christian, guess what? Those beautiful sunflowers were facing our house, and He had added more to the bunch! I call out to Chastity that the Lord had answered my prayer and turned the flowers around, and she says, “No way!”

I must say that a day or so later, I noticed that the flowers had turned somewhat towards the side. As I stood there observing this, I realized that I had not noticed them the day before (I remembered that I was in deep thought that morning), .and there they stood as if to say I had ignored them, and they decided to turn their beautiful gaze elsewhere. Lord, help us to keep our gaze on our children; to help them turn their gaze towards You.

I can tell you that our Heavenly Father cares about everything that we care about, and He only wants the best for His children as we seek to do His will.

I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage fathers during this season because although your children may not be walking following God’s will for their lives, they still need you to stand in the gap for them. Even if you did not do everything right (who has?), what you do now still can and will impact your children. (To err is human; to forgive, divine. Give space to forgive yourself as well as others).

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
EPHESIANS 6:4 AMP

The Heart of A Father

You possess the power to cause your children to stand tall (like a sunflower). Do not withhold that from them. They need that part of you that God has given you as a father to direct them in the way that they should go. And if it does not seem as if they are not listening…that is the beauty of being a father; you’ll be right there when they get it right.
So, continue to give them fatherly advice, lead them with strong hands(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffBG7JAvBiw), and let God do the rest.

Free Father’s Day Printable
One of my favorite things is wall art. Printables, to be exact. This Father’s Day Printable is the first of many that I will be sharing on this site because I believe that printables are a great way to help us to remember the good things about life. This month, we celebrate fathers. May you all be encouraged and strengthened to be all that God has called you to be. And like the Heavenly Father may you to be A Good Good Father. This printable is inspired by Chris Tomlin’s mega song , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqybaIesbuA: Good Good Father. May it be a constant reminder that He is there to help you every step of the way. Enjoy!