Three Reflections Every Dad Should Read

Today’s Focus on the Family radio program features some very moving reflections about fathers and fatherhood and the reminder to make the most of your fleeting years as a dad.

I hope you’ll click here to access the entire show. But in the meantime, I wanted to share three poignant quotes from three of our featured guests:

I wasn’t the dad I should’ve been when [the] kids were growing up … And I’ve tried to make up for lost time and lost ground…I’m a crusader on this, because I was so determined in the Marines. I was gone all the time. And then in the politics, I was consumed with politics and I got caught up in the great cause of changing the world. And that all came crashing down on me and I realized how much I had missed in my life. And that’s why I’m a crusader today, to tell dads, “Don’t miss what I missed.”

-Chuck Colson

I can remember fishing with my father. I can remember cold coffee grounds on a[n] open fire. I can remember listening to my father tell stories, uh … baseball games. You don’t realize while you’re doing it, what you’re doing, but you spend time with your children.

Your kid has to have time, because fathers, there is no amount of success in this world that is going to ever replace the pain of a child gone south because you didn’t spend time with him.

-Tommy Nelson

I heard a story of a young man whose dad said to him, “Let’s go fishing.” They sat all day long and didn’t catch a thing. Years later, the man was going through his journal and found a journal of his son. This dad had written in his journal on that day that he took his son fishing, “Didn’t catch a thing; a whole day wasted.” He opened the journal to the same day and saw his son’s entry. “Spent the whole day with my dad–greatest day of my life.”

-Ken Davis

Dads, I hope you’ll consider your legacy. What will your kids say at your funeral? Think about it, won’t you? It’s critical that you spend time with them, even if it means changing your work schedule or passing up a promotion. Have you been meaning to make more time in your routine? Don’t put it off. Go after it. Begin making changes today. God will honor your decision if you do.