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Fatherhood
by Mary Beth Jambor
All parents know too well how easily a home becomes overrun with stuff when you have children. It got to the point in our house where walking through our family room was like negotiating an obstacle course. Storage space in the basement had reached capacity. We decided to have a garage sale.

This was our first garage sale, so despite careful planning there were some surprises. The biggest surprise, however, was the number of fathers who turned out to shop with their babies. These were my husband’s favorite customers. “How old is the little guy?” my husband would ask the minute the pair approached the driveway. “Enjoy it. They are so much fun!” “Believe me, it only gets to be even more and more fun as they get older.” “My little guy is three. It is the best thing I’ve even done!” These lines were repeated to every father that came to our home that day.

Jesus came to earth to proclaim the love of God the Father. He preached this message through both his words and his actions. Jesus performed miracles and told parables. As parents handing on faith to our children, we too proclaim the love of God the Father. We read stories from the Bible about a loving God, including the Creation, Noah, the Lilies of the Field, the Forgiving Father, the Good Shepherd, and Jesus Feeding the Crowd. We pray together as a family to a God who listens to and answers our prayers.

Parents are the primary religious educators of their children, not only because home is where children first learn to pray, hear Scripture stories, and are incorporated into a community of faith; but also because home is where children first learn about love—unconditional love. When a child’s father exhibits unconditional love, is forgiving, is caring, keeps promises, and delights in their child, that child can more easily come to believe in an all-loving God.

Most fathers today are aware of the importance of their role in their child’s life and are more involved in hands-on parenting than any other generation of fathers. Statistics prove that children with involved, loving fathers are more likely to do well in school, have healthy self-esteem, and exhibit emotional well-being and positive social behavior. Although these statistics are impressive, they are not what have motivated today’s fathers to revolutionize fatherhood. Perhaps these fathers, many of whom may have been denied comfortable and loving relationships with their own fathers, have gotten hooked on fatherhood as they have experienced the love of God through their unconditional love of their children.

We’ll never know what all those dads who came to our garage sale thought of my husband’s enthusiasm for fatherhood. What we do know is that our son understands that his dad loves being his father.

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