PARENTING: Celebrating Absentee Fathers

Celebrating Absentee Fathers
Posted on March 23, 2014  in Blog, Parenting
If you haven’t seen the 30 second commercial from Days Inn, take a look. Believe me, it isn’t funny.  Not even a little bit.  In fact, as a Dad, I was a little bit ticked, frustrated, saddened, offended, and maybe even felt a touch guilty.
Has fatherlessness (whether live in dad or live elsewhere dad) gotten so bad that as a culture we’ve decided just to live with it, celebrate it, commercialize it, and laugh at it?
Apparently.
Do we have anyone else but ourselves to blame?  Doubtful.
Where and when can the tide be turned?  If you’re a dad: today and in your own home.  For the moment, I have more questions than answers, although Lord willing they will quickly follow.  Here’s a start:
When I’m at home, am I really at home, or am I somewhere else (work, online, nose in a book, immersed in a video game, glued to the tv etc. etc.)?
How often am I at home or with my kids?
What do I do when I’m with them?
Who is my role model for fatherhood?  Do I have one?
How does my understanding of God as Father inform what kind of father I am to my kids?
Who am I discipling to become a better father?
Who is discipling me to become a better father?
What does my church do to equip the fathers who attend?
In what ways do I need to ask God to forgive me for the kind of father I’ve been, or not been?
In what ways do I need to ask my wife and kids to forgive me for the kind of father I’ve been, or not been?
Dads, what else should we be asking ourselves?
In the search for answers here are some places we may want to start informing ourselves about fatherhood: the book of Proverbs, Deuteronomy 6, Colossians 3:21, Ephesians 6:4.  I enjoyed reading Byron Yawn’s book What Every Man Wishes His Father Told Him.  You can get a free pdf copy here.  I’ve started reading Voddie Baucham’s book Family Shepherds, and Douglas WIlson’s book Father Hunger was recommended to me by a trustworthy source, although I haven’t read it yet.
I’d be more than interested in looking for answers together.  Let me know if you are too.
Sean

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