There is a paragraph in Tony Dungy's book, Quiet Strength, where he is reflecting on the time he and his dad spent together. The paragraph ends like this, "I knew I was spending as much time as I could with my kids, but compared to my dad, it just didn't seem like I was doing enough. I was grateful for the times we had shared as a family but I was disappointed in myself" (p. 232).
It is better to be a disappointed father than a father who is a disappointment to his child. As fathers, we should be aware of the danger we ourselves face. Disappointment can lead to discouragement. Discouragement can lead to despair. Despair can lead to disengagement. Disengagement can lead to detachment. Detachment can lead to destruction. Destruction can lead to the death of the relationship. A dead relationship means the father is no longer contributing positively to the growth of the child, nurturing life within the child, or encouraging the child to be fruitful in life -- the father has become a disappointment to his child. When a father is disappointed in himself, this is a call to humble himself before God and seek His strength to change before he allows the disappointment within himself to change him from being identified as the child's father into a man his child identifies as a disappointment of a father.
December 27, 2007
November 23, 2007
It Is Too Big A Job
One minute a little boy's room is clean and tidy. But 10 minutes later his dad looks in and there are toys everywhere! The dad tells the son to clean up the mess. Later dad returns to find the mess still there. The little boy asks his dad to help him pick up. When asked why he needs help, the boy says, "It is just too big a job. I don't know where to start." His dad begins suggesting things to pick up and the boy does. Pretty soon the room once again has order and is tidy. Everything is back in its proper place. The son and father can now go about doing other things together with the rest of their day.
How often is the same true for us when we look around the world and see the problems facing orphaned, abandoned, and fatherless children? The situation seems overwhelming. The job just seems too big. We wonder where to begin, and we may even wonder if it matters at all because the job looks impossible to complete. So, sometimes we just sit and look at the situation. We sit knowing we are supposed to act, but feeling to overwhelmed and helpless to even begin doing anything. After all, what are you supposed to do? Travel to Africa and live in a refugee camp handing out food? Save up thousands of dollars and wait several years to adopt a child from overseas? Open your home with your young children to bring in a local foster child who has a history of violent behavior? Even if you did all three of these things, the situation in the world would still look just the same; it would look as if nothing had changed. So, you can reason to yourself that there is nothing you can do to make a difference. Yet, in your heart, you know that you are wrong.
True, you probably aren't going to be the person who changes the world all on your own; however, you could be the person who faithfully prays to the One who created the world and who loves every child born into it. Right now, you could decide to pray for one child for the next 3 days or 7 days or 30 days. Just pick a country and then pray something like, "Heavenly Father, there is a little boy in Bolivia who has no one to care for him. He is all alone and struggling for his physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I don't know his name. I don't know what he looks like. But I know You do. I know You know Him and call Him by name. My prayer Heavenly Father is that You will supernaturally bring someone into his life to share with him, or that You will reveal to him in some way, the reality that You want to be his strength and his shield and that if he trusts his heart to You that You will not leave or forsake him but You will be his help and salvation. I pray that You will hear and answer my prayer offered selflessly on his behalf. I thank You that in time this little boy's heart will leap for joy and he will give thanks to You in song. I know You are faithful and a God of grace and mercy. Please bless this little boy and keep Him in Your care and protection. May no harm come to him this day or night. May You be glorified and receive honor and praise in answering Your child's prayer offered in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen."
As you become faithful in praying for this child and others like him, I believe your heart will become softer and your spirit more open to other ways God wants you to participate in His work to bring about justice for these children. As more of God's heart for these children takes root in your heart, you will find yourself more ready and able to respond to God's promptings to help in other tangible ways in the physical, material world.
When you shift your focus from the situation in its entirety to the situation of a single child, I believe you'll know a greater sense of empowerment to bring about change in the spiritual and physical reality. Prayer makes for preparedness. Preparedness fosters responsiveness. Responsiveness leads to action. Action causes change. Prayer changes you, and God changes the world -- one answered prayer for one child at a time.
How often is the same true for us when we look around the world and see the problems facing orphaned, abandoned, and fatherless children? The situation seems overwhelming. The job just seems too big. We wonder where to begin, and we may even wonder if it matters at all because the job looks impossible to complete. So, sometimes we just sit and look at the situation. We sit knowing we are supposed to act, but feeling to overwhelmed and helpless to even begin doing anything. After all, what are you supposed to do? Travel to Africa and live in a refugee camp handing out food? Save up thousands of dollars and wait several years to adopt a child from overseas? Open your home with your young children to bring in a local foster child who has a history of violent behavior? Even if you did all three of these things, the situation in the world would still look just the same; it would look as if nothing had changed. So, you can reason to yourself that there is nothing you can do to make a difference. Yet, in your heart, you know that you are wrong.
True, you probably aren't going to be the person who changes the world all on your own; however, you could be the person who faithfully prays to the One who created the world and who loves every child born into it. Right now, you could decide to pray for one child for the next 3 days or 7 days or 30 days. Just pick a country and then pray something like, "Heavenly Father, there is a little boy in Bolivia who has no one to care for him. He is all alone and struggling for his physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. I don't know his name. I don't know what he looks like. But I know You do. I know You know Him and call Him by name. My prayer Heavenly Father is that You will supernaturally bring someone into his life to share with him, or that You will reveal to him in some way, the reality that You want to be his strength and his shield and that if he trusts his heart to You that You will not leave or forsake him but You will be his help and salvation. I pray that You will hear and answer my prayer offered selflessly on his behalf. I thank You that in time this little boy's heart will leap for joy and he will give thanks to You in song. I know You are faithful and a God of grace and mercy. Please bless this little boy and keep Him in Your care and protection. May no harm come to him this day or night. May You be glorified and receive honor and praise in answering Your child's prayer offered in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen."
As you become faithful in praying for this child and others like him, I believe your heart will become softer and your spirit more open to other ways God wants you to participate in His work to bring about justice for these children. As more of God's heart for these children takes root in your heart, you will find yourself more ready and able to respond to God's promptings to help in other tangible ways in the physical, material world.
When you shift your focus from the situation in its entirety to the situation of a single child, I believe you'll know a greater sense of empowerment to bring about change in the spiritual and physical reality. Prayer makes for preparedness. Preparedness fosters responsiveness. Responsiveness leads to action. Action causes change. Prayer changes you, and God changes the world -- one answered prayer for one child at a time.
November 1, 2007
Remember Me
This morning I am reminded of the many children who do not have a parent praying for them every night before bed and as they go off to school. Who is going to remember to pray from them? I see in my mind's eye the faces of desperate children from around the world. Their faces and eyes are saying "Remember me....Please remember me." I know God is watching over these children, but I can't imagine this is what He really wants for them in their lives. I can't help but to think that each day He watches us forgetting these children as we go about the busyness of our own days that His heart aches just a little more. Some of those children maybe are praising the Heavenly Father in the midst of the storm as they find reasons, however small, to be grateful and smile. But how many of these children are cursing Him during the storm? How many are doubting Him and His promises? How many are building up anger and bitterness toward Him? How can we continue to let this happen? What shall we do? How shall we answer His call to righteousness and justice for these children? How far are we willing to walk alongside the Lord in being a defender for the orphans?
September 28, 2007
Hardened by Heartache
“Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me” (Psalm 27:10, NIV).
September 26, 2007
Seed of Compassion
To you this child is a nameless face, but our Heavenly Father calls her by name. He has counted the very hairs on her head. He has been there to capture the tears she has shed. He has heard her cries of anguish and confusion. But He has also heard her laughter and seen her smile. He has loved her from the beginning. To Him, she is precious. He has a purpose for her life. Where many see only a poor girl left to live in an orphanage in Mexico, God sees a blessing. What do you see?My prayer is that today you will ask God to plant a seed of compassion within your heart and as this seed is nurtured and grows that your heart becomes broken and tender towards orphaned, abandoned, and fatherless children all around the world.
I encourage you to ask God to teach you that there are no nameless children; there are only children whose names you do not know. Ask Him to teach you to love these children like Jesus loves them. The seed of compassion that blooms for the world to see is a beautiful expression of Christ's love.
September 20, 2007
A Seed is Planted
Really? This was my initial reaction when one of the board of directors suggested I create a blog for our ministry. I have never really understood blogging and had no plans of becoming a "blogger." Yet, here I am, planting the first seed for our blog. Hopefully this blog will give you a glimpse into the heart of Seeds for the Fatherless which we pray is a reflection of the heart that our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ has for the orphaned, abandoned, and fatherless children around the world. More than two years ago, I was blessed to be able to put down in words what the Lord was doing in my heart, mind, and spirit with respect to these children. The poem is called "Always their Faces."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)