Father's Day

Jim Wallis writes: “I once coined the phrase, “A budget is a moral document.” But being a dad to Luke and Jack, I now have a new phrase, “A calendar is a moral document.” As many have pointed out…all the social data shows how critically important fathering is for children -- both boys and girls. As Roland Warren so aptly says, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” And it’s all about the calendar. I used to say that a budget tells you what and who are most important to a family, a church, a city, state, or nation. And that’s certainly also true about a calendar. Who or what is most important?”

To quote someone else (who’s name I can’t remember): “No one comes to the end of life and says, ‘I wish I spent more time at the office.’ But too many people do come to the end of life and wish they spent more time with their kids.”

Sunday is Father’s Day. It’s a day for families to say thank you to their dads. But it’s also a day for dads to say thank you for their kids. Because being a dad is a tremendous blessing. It’s a gift from God—one of His greatest gifts. A gift that I will never take for granted. Hopefully. At least not until my next incredibly busy week of work. Or the next time March Madness comes around and I want to watch just a few games on TV. Or…

t’s so easy to get distracted from the things that truly are most important to us, isn’t it? We know/believe that our families are so important to us and, yet, when it comes to the parceling out of our time, they often get the leftovers. We want to give them our best but too often they get whatever energy, time, love, attention hasn’t been taken by our jobs, hobbies, friends, etc.

That’s why the calendar is so important. Because when we put it down on the calendar, it happens. When we schedule a family day, nothing gets to take its place. When we schedule ourselves to attend our kids’ games, recitals, etc., it happens. The calendar is moral document. It says what is most important to us.

I think that it’s time to schedule a family day…