{"id":33143,"date":"2024-06-16T15:16:36","date_gmt":"2024-06-16T19:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=33143"},"modified":"2024-06-16T15:16:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-16T19:16:36","slug":"sunday-reflection-fathers-day-fathering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=33143","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Reflection – Father’s Day & Fathering"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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[Adapted from the Archives<\/a>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We all have fathers \u2013 whether very present, present but distant, or long-time absent. Some of you may be fathers. Some of you may have wanted to be fathers but are not able to be\u2026for whatever reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This day of commemoration usually means a good meal and some sort of gifting or pampering for you dads. For all of you, with or without children, you can be influencers\u2026and we need you. My biological father was absent long before my parents divorced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully I have had a rich heritage of good fathers through the rest of my life \u2013 my step-dad, brothers, uncles, husband, father-in-law, son\/son-in-law, brother-in-law, nephews, and loving, empowering male friends and colleagues. Most of these good fathers in my life were spiritual fathers\u2026but fathers nonetheless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The father of my own children used to travel with his work. He and I had a parting ritual. He runs through the \u201cin case something happens\u201d list [let me know if you want particulars of that \u2013 it is helpful to know]. Then, we did sort of a \u201cThanks for marrying me\u201d farewell\u2026and finally that wonderful, \u201cIf I don\u2019t see you here, I\u2019ll see you THERE.\u201d When this man wasn\u2019t present with us, he still was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fathering, like mothering, is not an easy job. So much dying to self. So much responsibility.\u00a0What a delight for us when\u00a0the men in our lives\u00a0take fathering on their shoulders as they might a sleeping child. Surrendering themselves to the serving of those younger than them. I thank God for men who humble themselves in prayer for their children and who go to work every day to support their families. Working, studying, and life-long learning passed on to their children and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Calvin & Hobbs from the blog of Kenneth Reeds<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These dads are too-often taken for granted in the shadow of fathering that falls short. The absent, neglectful and downright abusive fathers cut wounds so deep that decent fathers are sometimes judged by the same measure. We watch for \u201cthe sins of the fathers to be revisited on their children\u201d (Numbers 14:18<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, let\u2019s reflect on the good fathers. Those who were present at our births, or those who came later in life to us, or those who father us out of their own great hearts. Imperfect, sure. All of us are. Yet, there are those men who go many more than second miles for us, and we are grateful. \u2013 Deb Mills<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2026and finally let\u2019s live in hope that those fathers who struggle to be present or loving may one day gather themselves together, awaken to what was left behind, and reach out to the treasures they missed along the way\u2026and may they find us within reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Father I Never Knew on Father\u2019s Day<\/em> \u2013 Deb Mills Writer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fathering \u2013 Celebrating Men Who Did It Well; Forgiving Men Who Didn\u2019t<\/em> \u2013 Deb Mills Writer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs to my children, you are now to be left fatherless, which I hope will be an inducement to you all to seek a Father who will never fail you.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 <\/em>Jonathan Edwards<\/em><\/u><\/a>, his last words to his children, as he lay dying<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traveling Man \u2013 Somewhere Between Here, There, & Home<\/em> \u2013 Deb Mills Writer<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: B. C. Comics<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Adapted from the Archives] We all have fathers \u2013 whether very present, present but distant, or long-time absent. Some of you may be fathers. Some of you may have wanted to be fathers but are not able to be\u2026for whatever reasons. This day of commemoration usually means a good meal and some sort of gifting … Continue reading Sunday Reflection – Father’s Day & Fathering<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[810,926,2986,690,1628,2713,4343,794,147,1436,3208,5221,825,1732,5130,317,31,789],"tags":[148,10658,51,798,150,1442,651,4144,217,10755,10754],"class_list":["post-33143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-good-gifts","category-attending-or-focus","category-attitude","category-babies-children","category-character","category-dad","category-daughters-and-sons","category-faithfulness","category-family-2","category-fathers","category-finishing-strong","category-god-the-father","category-holidays","category-leadership","category-legacy","category-lessons-learned","category-parenting","category-relationships","tag-dad","tag-daughters","tag-faithful","tag-faithfulness-2","tag-fathers-day","tag-fathering","tag-god-the-father","tag-influencers","tag-sons","tag-spiritual-fathers","tag-sunday-reflection"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pauPAB-8Cz","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33143"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33154,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33143\/revisions\/33154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}