Honoring the Father of the House

Today the wind is expected to blow up to 60 miles an hour.  Typically, for Father's Day,
we plan a picnic outing in one of our favorite beautfiful mountain places. But today that is
not possible. The forest is closed.

Having our life interrupted by the Wallow Wildfire has been distracting. I felt unprepared
and discouraged about honoring the father of this house today. But God is so faithful to
give me ideas. They usually come when I'm lying awake at night.

Knowing that Jeff enjoys simple things, God knows just how to bless him. He doesn't
care about having more stuff or fancy celebrations.

We are going to have an indoor picnic. I have planned to grill some chicken and make a
macaroni salad. There are peaches from the freezer that we can cut up for ice cream.

He doesn't know it yet, but, we have a surprise coming in a few months. We are going to
treat him to the movie, Courageous. It highlights fatherhood and the challenge to be a
Godly leader in the home.

Honoring, encouraging and supporting our husbands as fathers is one of the most
important
things we will do as a wife and friend.

Here are a few ways that you can encourage fathers in your family.

*Give books, CDs and other information (websites, blogs, seminars, etc) that encourage,
 teach and inspire
*Speak words of encouragement
*Be careful to notice the positive aspects of their parenting and speak of them often
*Offer prayer and support when they are discouraged
*Pray for them regularly
*Don't be critical of their mistakes
*Read books together that support him in his role
*Offer to do a Bible study with him on the topic
*Extend grace and mercy when they fail
*Teach your children to honor and respect their father in their words and actions
*Listen carefully to their oppinions and show respect for their leadership

Setting aside a day to honor our husband in their role as father will encourage them and
express how much we daily appreciate their hard work and sacrifice to serve in
this challenging role. It is a wonderful opportunity to bless and minister to him as we show
our love and respect.

As our culture is distracting and misleading in what a man is, it is so important to help
build our husband up in the truth. There are many who believe to be a follower of Christ is
to be weak. We know that the Bible teaches that our strength is found in Him. To be
"your own man" is thought to be one who knows who he is and is self made. The Bible
teaches us that if we are hidden in Christ, we will be seen as Christ-likeAnd that we
find our identity in Him.


Though it isn't a Biblical practice, it gives us a day to make them feel special by focusing
solely on them; it also offers another opportunity to teach our children about honoring
the role of fatherhood.


Here are a  few locations where encouraging recources can be found.

http://www.visionforum.com/

http://www.lamplighterpublishing.com/

http://www.desiringgod.org/ (The blog of John Piper)

http://www.marshillchurch.org/  ( This is not connected with Rob Bell, author of Love Wins.
It is Mark Driscoll.)