I watched a father traveling with his wife and two preschool daughters schlepping luggage at the airport last night. After a ten hour flight from Munich, jet-lagged and exhausted, this dad loaded enough bags and car seats to make an assault on Everest. I hope this morning he’s enjoying a doughnut with his feet up.

Fathers enjoy this day of honor, but good fathers don’t stop doing the work. Some will fix bikes, give advice, or run the grill for dinner. That’s the glory of raising children. Fathers go to work.

I’m grateful for my father, long passed, who never stopped fathering me and my brothers. I’m also grateful for the many good men who’ve influenced my life, from grandfathers and uncles to bosses, co-workers and friends. Today we honor fathers of all types.

As a father, I earnestly pray to our Heavenly Father, asking for the prosperous flourishing of my children and grandchild. Today I call out these words of David:

May our sons in their youth be like well-watered plants, and our daughters like pillars carved to adorn a palace.

Because raising the next generations to adulthood, to love and serve the Lord, remains one of the great duties and privileges of fatherhood.

Psalm 144 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Tommaso Pecchioli