- The concept of fatherhood is lot to live up to, since “father” is used 260 times for God in the Old and New Testaments. But even He found His children challenging at times.
Father’s Day originated a few years after the first Mother’s Day celebration when a woman in Spokane, Washington decided in 1910 that perhaps fathers should be so honored as well. While Mother’s Day became a federal holiday by 1914, Father’s Day wasn’t thus recognized until 1972, when Richard Nixon signed legislation designating the third Sunday in June as a permanent national celebration of fatherhood.
Like all holidays properly observed, Father’s Day puts the spotlight on something extremely significant to culture – in this case, the contribution of dads to the flourishing of families.
The concept of fatherhood is lot to live up to, since “father” is used 260 times for God in the Old and New Testaments. But even He found His children challenging at times (a fact that should comfort modern fathers who are trying their best to do fulfill this calling)!
I didn’t appreciate my father (nor my mother) nearly enough growing up. Having gained perspective as father to six (now-adult) children, and having heard more stories about him – not to mention just flat out missing him in the three decades that he’s been gone – here is a small homage to my dad, on this third Sunday in June.
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My Dad.
Not a perfect guy, but…a good man.
He was home at night and faithful to his wife.
He worked hard at a job he didn’t like for money that wasn’t great because that is what men of his generation usually did to put food on the table and clothes on children’s backs.
He ate lunch and dinner faithfully with his family.
He coached my baseball teams.
He attended my track meets all over the nation from high school through college.
He provided for my mother in his death.
He was a good friend. Those guys still talk admiringly of him.
As we reminisced in preparation for his funeral, my brother described Dad as a guy who was always fighting for lost causes. But they were just causes, politically and morally.
It isn’t easy always getting beat. And did he ever take a drubbing.
He unsuccessfully battled the theological decline of his denomination. He experienced political losses. He got beat on moral issues. He was sometimes defeated at the ballot box.
He kept plugging.
He was an “in the fight” kind of guy.
Best of all, he was a first-generation, evangelical, Bible-thumpin’, Sunday school teaching, always-giving, never-miss-a-Sunday-at-church, born-again Christian whose adult conversion to Jesus Christ radically changed his family line.
I hope he can see, somewhere today, the results of his formative and godly influence. As one of my sons said recently, “I like the Jerry Friedeman legacy.”
I do, too.
Matt Friedeman
