A monthly online magazine chock-full of insightful articles for busy mothers.

Dad’s Note

My Dad was one of those “saint kind of guys” and I mean this sincerely. He was hooked up to all these machines and I was there with my brother and he could not talk but would write us notes. I could not figure out what he wrote at first, but then I realized it was around my wedding anniversary, (4/27) and he wished me Happy Anniversary! He was always thinking of others; putting others first…something you do not see often. When my kids don’t share I tell them “Is that what Dzia Dzia (pronounced Judgia) would do?” and they have a turn around,most times, because he was so sincere, so authentically self-sacrificing, they can’t help but want to imitate him because they appreciated his giving spirit and want to be like him. I want to be like him…I find it very difficult, but I WANT to be.

Caroline Shaw
written for Old Fashioned Living

A Mom’s Love

by Laura Vomvos
This month my column is for Dads. After all, Fathers Day is
on the 21st of June, and ironically, that is my husbands birthday also.
So, Happy Birthday Honey, this one is for you.

by Johann Christoph Arnold
for Father’s Day 2009

Many problems in our society will be solved when young men are willing to become good fathers. Of course, they can do this only if they have an example to follow. As fathers, we need to be the strongest role models for children, especially for our sons.

I loved my father. He had a tremendous sense of humor, but he also was strict and set boundaries which I didn’t always appreciate at the time. I always knew he loved me. Once when I was eight or nine, I angered him so much that he threatened to punish me. I looked up at him and, before I knew what I was doing, blurted out, “Papa, I’m really sorry. Do what you have to do-but I know you still love me.” To my astonishment, he leaned down, put his arms around me and said with a tenderness that came from the bottom of his heart: “Christoph, I forgive you.”

Like many fathers today, my father’s work sometimes kept him away from home for long stretches. I remember as a five-year-old, if I refused to obey, all my mother needed to do was to show me his picture. “Your Papa wouldn’t like it,” she’d tell me, and I’d give in.

I felt very secure just being with my father. As a small boy I decided I wanted to be like him when I grew up. This relationship held me through hard times, even after his death. Now I want to pass this on to my children, grandchildren, and to all of you.

Fathers, if you love your wife and if you love your children, give them your time.
Spending time together will give your family inner and emotional security. This is much more important than financial security. The Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral writes, “Many things can wait. Children cannot… To them we cannot say ‘tomorrow.’ Their name is today.”

The love we show our children by giving them our time and attention can hold them in good stead even years down the road. As Dostoevsky reminds us in The Brothers Karamazov, “You must know that there is nothing higher and stronger and more wholesome for life in the future than some good memory, especially a memory of childhood, of home…For if a man has only one good memory left in his heart, even that may keep him from evil.”

To be a father is to fulfill a noble vocation. But fatherhood is not for everyone:
it is not for cowards or for those who are unsure of themselves. Once we become fathers, we remain fathers until we die. A true father must be a leader-a captain who guides his family’s ship through perilous waters to safe shores, a general who rallies his troops to take on the daily battles.

On the other hand, a father should also model love and compassion. Jesus was not afraid to compare himself to a hen gathering her chicks. He also wept. These qualities belong to true manhood, and a true father will seek to embody them.

Finally, I believe even the best intentioned fathers will not be able to fulfill
their task without finding a firm faith in God. When they do, our families and the entire country will be strengthened, because strong families form the backbone of our nation.
About the Author: Johann Christoph Arnold is a pastor and author of ten books, which are now available as free e-books at www.plough.com.