Every child deserves a committed father

What you need to know:

  • A daughter affirmed by her father carries an affirmation that grounds all her future relationships.

It was 6.20am. The sun was starting to appear off the horizon as I dropped off my child to school. There was something about mornings. Often times, we fought for the better part of the morning. First, we needed to convince the child to wake up and quickly take their breakfast. Nobody wants to be caught up in the morning traffic.
So we got to school and as I got back into the car to leave, I spotted a man carrying his daughter and I couldn’t help but hear their cheerful laughter and giggles.
This warmed my heart. I could almost guess it was a father-daughter relationship. Last weekend was awash with celebrations and congratulatory messages to fathers in honour of Father’s Day.

Fathers play a pivotal role in our lives and in society. Whereas some are biological, many are not, but they nurture, groom, encourage, uplift, affirm and confirm, impart values, provide wise counsel, protect and provide materially.
I have known some incredible fathers in this journey. Some are a lot quieter than others but they are awesome in their own way. They play their role like their lives depend on it. I remember one particular father, who was always busy because he was in charge of some of the functional systems for financial transactions. But this didn’t stop him from being present at home to have dinner and to tuck in his children at night.

I know many fathers, who have been the only parent at home and after office work, they get down to bathing, bonding and supervising homework and house chores. This is the father who knows every child’s particular shoe size, favourite colour and has met the children’s best friends a couple of times.
I didn’t grow up with a father and this had a bearing on my life, especially the reconciliation of understanding God as father. But I had and have since gotten many more fathers along the way. I deeply value my fathers and appreciate the impact they have on my present and future life. How I desperately pray that every father realises the importance of the role they play in this parenting process.

A daughter affirmed by her father carries an affirmation that grounds all her future relationships. The son who has a relationship with his father navigates the waters of the different seasons Every child deserves a committed and loving father.