Happy Father’s Day
By Dan Stremel
Director, Offices of Finance and Stewardship
It is interesting to look at the advertisements in the papers during the few weeks leading up to Father’s Day; the specials advertise fishing, golfing, boating, and camping gear. They also suggest that the perfect gift for dad will be tools or some other item to be found at the home improvement store. Still others will promote clothes, computers, cell phones and PDA’s as the gift of choice for this special day. These gift ideas, while practical and useful for some, but totally worthless for others, suggest that while all dads have fatherhood in common, each dad can also be very different.
For example, I believe that fishing gear is not something that anyone needs to spend money on. Most people who know me understand that these feelings relate to my lack of patience. My dad, on the other hand, continues to accumulate fishing rods and reels, and spends a fair amount of time with friends angling for the big catch. I have friends who are very much in their comfort zone at the home improvement store looking for the latest tools that will assist them in accomplishing the next big task, while there are other dads out there who realize that anything purchased or received as a gift at these stores means work that they either can’t or don’t want to do.
Father’s Day is the celebration of all dads, living and deceased, and how they play an important role in the life of our families. Fathers have the opportunity and the responsibility to inspire, shape, and mold their children. A dad’s values, attitudes, and gifts displayed in word and action will have a lasting impact on their children, both good and bad.
All fathers can share stories about the joys and struggles of being a parent and how in one moment a child can do something that disappoints and concerns them, only to be surprised and delighted by that same child’s actions a short time later. These actions are likely actions that they mirror in a parent or other adult’s behavior and are being learned both consciously and subconsciously. How often have we heard the phrase after having done something, about becoming more and more like our parents all the time? Sometimes the comment is intended as a compliment, sometimes it is not.
Each of us as fathers has been blessed with unique gifts in our lives, including the gifts of our time, talents, and treasure. However, one of the most important gifts we have been blessed with is the gift of our children, truly gifts from God. As Christian stewards then, we are called to be grateful for our children and their uniqueness, to be patient and loving with them, and to be responsible and kind to them.
I want to wish all fathers and grandfathers a happy Father’s Day today. I especially want to wish my dad, my father-in-law, my brothers and brothers-in-law a Happy Father’s Day today. I pray that each of us as fathers will recognize that the best gifts given us on this special day are not the presents from the stores, but rather are the gifts of our children.