Happy Father’s Day

This Sunday, 21^st June, is Father’s Day in the UK. This annual card sending occasion normally passes me by unnoticed.

My father died shortly after my 1^st birthday. I have no conscious memory of him. All I have is a photograph of me on his lap biting one end of a cookie while he bites the other.  It is a lovely image but it has limited meaning for me.  It is difficult to recognise myself in the face of a 6 month old baby.  In reality, I’ve never had a father. And this is tough because, as I’ve been learning in the last few years, fathers are irreplaceable for little girls.  I see many glimpses of what I never had modelled for me in the relationship between my brother-in-law and my niece.  I’ve seen the excitement in her face when daddy gets home and watched her run to greet him. I’ve watched her clamour for his attention, delighted when he shows an interest in her day and achievements. I’ve seen her beam when he praises her and tells her she looks beautiful in the dress she’s so proud of. And I’ve seen him encourage her to try new things, standing ready to catch her but always saying “you can do it, that’s right, well done!”

I’ve been lucky to witness this type of father. It has spoken to my heart about who fathers are and what they do for their daughters, and helped me gain a deeper understanding of what it means for God to be my Father. He is all of the good things I see in the way my brother-in-law loves my niece but magnified and perfected. He is the ultimate Father.  He is always present, always there to guide, encourage and discipline. And He tells me I’m beautiful, precious and loved.

This will be the first Father’s Day to hold meaning for me. I still feel some sense of loss at not having known the physical presence of a father, but the gaping hole has been filled and continues to be filled with the truth that I have a Father present with me. I realise that those of you who have been deeply wounded by your father may think an absent father sounds preferable, but God does not want us to feel father-less.  We can say of Him, through Jesus, “You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Saviour” (Ps 89:26 NIV).

Coming to know God as Father continues to be a process for me and so I am not going to offer any one stop solutions. But meditating on the truth in the Bible has played a big part. So whatever your experience, why not spend some time this Father’s Day (or any day) letting the truth about the kind of father God is fill your heart.

Here are some good places to start:

• Jeremiah 29:11 & 31:3
• Psalm 139
• John 14:23 & 17:23
• Luke 15:11-32
• Romans 8:38-39