Fathers {A Role specially planned by God}

   I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating Fathers! We had a good day and I was blessed to be able to spend much of it with both my father and the father of my children as well as some other fathers that I appreciate and admire. I am so very blessed to not only have a Heavenly Father who loves me and takes care of me but I also have some pretty neat human fathers in my life. I know that is not the case with everybody and I am extremely grateful!

   My Dad has always been there for me, he has been a huge inspiration in so many areas of my life. He (and Mom- they are a team!) taught me to love God, to love life, to love to learn and to be happy and content with who I am and what I have. But as my sister and I were fondly (now!) remembering last week, Dad did more than just take care of us in fun and easy ways. He also worked to train us and he did discipline us when necessary. My sister was remembering how she would burst into tears at his scolding and I was recalling the raps on the head when I didn't behave in church. Dad's goal wasn't just to have kids that thought he was great and fun, he wanted to help us to grow up to be good and useful members of society. I am thankful to my Dad for that.

 Thinking about fathers reminded me of these verses in Hebrews 12:

   " 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,



“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”

7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. "

  I don't know that these verses are easy ones, thinking about discipline at the time it is happening or before it is happening isn't easy. But when we realize how we can respect and love and trust our earthly father and I hope we will realize how much more reason we have to do that with our Heavenly Father!

 I think these are some good growing verses!