Clay in the Hands

This past Sunday was Father’s Day.  A day that is often set aside to give a tie or maybe a dozen golf balls to our dads.  Sometimes it is hard to come up with just what to give our dads.  Often I resort to a gift card or even worse – a check – in a card mailed too late.  At least that is how it happened this year – sorry again dad!

But it is hard to find creative ways to say thank you and show our love and appreciation for our dads.  That is not an excuse – just the reality.

However, this year, my sons made my Father’s Day experience one I will never forget!  They moved me, inspired me and gave me an overall sense of pride in the men they are becoming!  Each of them, in his own way, touched me deeply.

It began at about 11 PM on Saturday night.  I went in to tell Ethan, my middle son, goodnight and we started a conversation about his spiritual walk that went for 3 hours.  It was amazing to see and hear what God is doing in his life.

Then on Sunday morning during our worship service, Bryson, my youngest, decided during our response time to come to me.  It is customary in our church for people to come forward during this time to pray or talk with me about things they are struggling with or decisions they need to make.  Often, they come just to have me pray for them – which by the way is always wonderful.  But Bryson came with a different idea.  I assumed he was coming to ask me to pray for something going on in his life but that was not the case.  His first words were, “People always come for you to pray with them, but no one ever comes up here to pray for you.”  At that moment I began to weep.  And the tears didn’t stop as I listened to one of the most powerful and moving prayers I have ever heard!

Then, as I was trying to compose myself to finish out the response time, I looked up and my oldest son, Jared, was standing before me with tears in his eyes.  He put his arms around me and said, “I want to re-dedicate my life.”  For those of you not from our tradition or familiar with church-speak, what he was saying was “I want a closer walk with Jesus and I want my life to count for something.”  It was a moving time.

So, this past Father’s Day was one I will never forget!  I thank God for allowing me to be a dad and blessing me with a beautiful, amazing wife who has given me three incredible sons!

What about you?  How was your Father’s Day?