Gentlemen, being a man, a husband, a father is not an easy task. We ladies want you to know we recognize this and we honor you for doing it so well. You have great responsibility placed on your shoulders. You are called by God to lead your families, to love us as Christ loved the church (that would be the church for whom He died). You are told to protect us both spiritually and physically. When God tells you through the words of the Apostle Paul to love your wives, he is also telling the women to be lovable; but even when we are not very lovable (and that happens more than we would like to admit), you are still called to love us. When Paul tells women to honor their husbands, he is also telling you men to be honorable. He then goes on to tell the women to submit to their husbands. That authority carries such responsibility; it means that you are to be men to whom we can submit. Not tyrants, but loving, caring, honest ~ and at times firm in truth ~ men of God.
Your work is not easy. Somehow you are to balance caring for the health of your own soul, caring for the souls of the wives and children God has given you, and caring for the souls of your church family. It means you are to be a man who loves your family, often juggling the responsibilities of elderly parents and hurting siblings along with your wives and children. You protect us, you provide for us in your daily occupation, you share the glory of God and His kingdom with your family, your church family, your work family, your neighbors.
We ladies are called to support you in our prayers and in daily encouragement. We try, we really do, but sometimes we are not very successful. Yet you keep on going, keep on leading, and keep on loving us, not in your strength and ability but in the strength and ability of the Holy Spirit.
You need to know that we recognize the work that you do, the responsibility that you shoulder. We are grateful for you and for the work that you do. We thank God for you. We treasure and value you. Thank you for all that you do. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for leading us. Thank you for the Dads you are.
Thank you especially to these fathers who have had such influence on my life
and my family's life.
Gordon Reed and four of his five.
Alfred Akin and his beloved Dan.
Mr. Marvelous
Roy Theodore Reed
Col. Robert Newton Clark
Robert Reed
John Reed
Rev. Fred Zoeller
Clark McNutt
Rev. John Douglas McNutt
Matthew Clark McNutt
Jeff
Rev. Daniel Leavengood
and of course, Wally Bromberg.
Thanks Wally for the encouragement.
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