Fathers Day

I know that this is the time and day of year to be posting such comments, but anyone who knows me will know that I believe that Fathers are incredibly important in obviously our children's lives but also in the lives of all of us as a community.

There are and can be a lot of influences in a persons life growing up, Mothers, other family members and Teachers being at the very top in my opinion.

Nothing can shape a child or community more than active fathers. We spend so much money on reforming adults once they do bad things. We have programs in prisons that sound good but are really just trowing money in the wrong direction. We need to be using that money on programs that will get people when changes will have a greater impact, a child. There are great programs out there such as Big Brothers/Sisters that do such great work, but nothing can compare to our own flesh and blood. Fathers that are around need to work as hard a possible for their families but also those that never forget who their working for. President Obama recently said, "We need to step out of our own heads and tune in. We need to turn off the television and start talking with our kids, and listening to them, and understanding what's going on in their lives."

My little boys are the center of my world. Since the birth of our first son I had worked two jobs to try and support them and allow my wife to stay at home with them. I really felt that I was doing exactly what I should be doing for them. Earlier this year though my wife gratefully pointed out my shortsightedness in this assumption. I was missing out on spending enough time with them. The time I had spent was quality but it wasn't enough. I quit my second job and although that means that we don't eat out as much or buy as many things as we had, I am spending so much time with my boys now and it's really paying off. We're getting to go to the park, birthday parties, wedding receptions and next week we're headed to our family reunion for the first time all of us together.

There are many great examples of Fathers doing exactly what they should be doing. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recently put out this YouTube Video.




In mine own life the man that I call my Father has shown me a great example of how to be a father. By his own admission he made a lot of mistakes in raising his own boys and my sister and I who he adopted when I was 15. I think he taught me a lot though about a couple very important things. One was that My Mother was the most important person in his life and I for one better treat her that way. The other was the value of work and having a job. He taught me that there were no free rides. When I dropped out of high school and didn't get a job and thought that I was just going to live off my parents he let me know that wasn't going to be the case. He kicked me out and I learned very quickly how to manage my money and work for what I needed.

Now I have my own boys to teach. I love them more than anything else in the world except their mother of course. I remember as each of them were born thinking how lucky I was to have been given such a gift and such a charge to teach these children of our Father in Heaven. How much he must love us to let us participate in this great responsibility.