I’ve started and erased this opening paragraph a dozen times. Possibly because I’ve written all day and I’m out of words but more than likely it’s because of swirling emotions.
I’ve always liked Father’s Day. I have a great dad who has rooted me in love and security. He has loved and cherished my mom, a love that gets more beautiful as they age. And in these last four years, he has gone over and above for my children and me. So I look forward to honoring him this Sunday.
But this week will also mark four years since Dan’s death. This is causing the swirl. At four years out I feel less fearful, less broken, more grounded, more hopeful.
A huge part of my grief though has been for my children. In the weeks following his death, I remember thinking, “I’m an adult. I’ve had him for 26 years; I can take this.” But my children? How I have grieved my children’s irreplaceable loss.
And then in the middle of these thoughts, Father’s Day brings me back to the boys I’m raising, and the kind of men and dads they’ll be. “Years don’t make you mature,” I’ve said lately. “Integrity and self-control make you mature.”
I keep coming back to one verse. Psalm 1 is the verse I have prayed over my boys (and girls) since they were little. I want them to be men who choose to follow hard after God, who know scripture and who keep it no matter what culture says men should be doing.
Of course my wanting it won’t make it happen. They’ve got to put down the roots. But I want them to know this is what we’ve aimed for all these years.
These three generations . . . a father who has loved well; a husband and man’s man who authentically walked out Psalm 1; and five boys who I pray will pick up that legacy and walk it into the next decades.
In honor of Father’s Day and growing boys to men, I’m sharing a Psalm 1 Scripture print. Two sizes are available: 8 x 10 or 5 x 7. I’ve framed the 8 x 10 for my boys’ room and I’m using the 5 x 7 as a Father’s Day card. (It would also make a great graduation or birthday card.) Click the link below the picture to download your free print. Enjoy friends! Thank you for visiting and feel free to print and share to your heart’s content.
*Graphics used with permission from the creative We Lived Happily Ever After.
Click here for the 5 x 7 (set printer to landscape). Click here for 8 x 10 (set printer for portrait).
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