This is Daddy

“This is Daddy’s truck,” Hope told me when she was two years old. She was pretending to drive, her little hands barely moving the steering wheel. I reached for the steering wheel. “This is Daddy’s truck,” she said again, protectively.

She loved her Daddy, that was clear to me, and she missed him every hour when he was away.

Fathers have a special place in the lives of their children.

I spoke of my father last Sunday in the message—the wrestling matches when he pinned me and my four brothers all in a pile in the living room floor. I have wonderful memories of a Dad who loved me.

I forget sometimes that some people—lots of people—did not grow up with a loving father. A person reminded me this week of that painful reality.

The absence of a loving father is one of the great tragedies of the present time for millions of children and adults. It is a wound that does not heal easily.

Loving fathers are in great demand. There is no role in the family where so little means so much—a little time and attention, a little listening and talking, a little affection and direction. So many kids are longing for it—just a tender look or loving touch from Dad.

Fathers, you are heroes, know it or not. You cast a shadow that lasts a lifetime.