Father

I am from the north, for those of you who don't know, and we northerners usually us the lingo 'dad' or 'pop' for the loving way we call our father. When I moved to North Carolina, I was amazed at how many adult (older than me) women called the father's 'daddy'. I was actually taken aback because its was a little creepy to be honest. Then someone explained to me that in the south that is very common for women to call their father 'daddy' and their mother 'mother' (note - my mom takes that offensively to some degree me calling her mother because its a way to get her attention and not affection). Yesterday morning on my way to work I heard a radio commentater talk about being a father and what role that held in the home. Whether it is in a marriage with children a solid foundation home, or one where the parents are not married or have been divorced, it didn't matter the role of being a father was still the same. (Don't be mistaken the commentater did not discard mother's he was just speaking in relation to Father's Day.) Then he said something interesting...he said 'God gave us (men) His name, Father. And with that comes a responsibility to hold up to His name.' I found that very interesting and profound at that moment because until then I had never related the two together. So this morning, got up fed, did all my usual stuff, and looked up 'father' on crosswalk.com. I was amazed at how many times "father" is spoke in the bible, I know I shouldn't have been but I was. I guess because I am used to reading that word in scripture it never really meant anything other than "father". But this morning in searching out 'father', I came across Gal 4:6 (I came across because I am lazy and not really reading my bible - honesty!) and it reads "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out "Abba" Father." I've never really read this scripture but this morning it struck me and spoke to me. This year I will not be sending a Father's Day card to my dad because he passed away in September of 2009, I realized for the first time that in the future, I will not send a Father's Day card to my son because we lost him in April of this year. And I am heartbroken over those realizations. But still I have a Father one who gave His name to my husband, a man who's girls call him every variation of the word father, and he holds up to that God given name. So I honor Lee - father of my children - with this blog. He is the man who blesses me every day with kind words and kisses. He is he man who cares of his children and spends time with them - even on the couch playing Mario Brothers. He is the man that God gave to me to raise our children. And he is the man who will always be a father, dad, padre, friend, to so many children outside of this house. He is an inspiration to those at his work who have commended him and used his wisdom in raising their own children. He is a strength that I will never have. He is father given to us in this family by the Father, to hold us in his hands and protect us from enemies and he is loved.
So I ask what do you call your father? Now it doesn't matter to me that adult women call their father 'daddy', I somewhat wish I had done that sometimes. And remember when you say 'dad', 'daddy', 'pop', 'father' whatever it is, God gave him that name, His name, to hold a responsibility to you and his family, through his God given name 'father'.