My Father on Fathers Day

Over the years my Father has taught me so much. He has taught me how to be patient when frustrated, how to love, and be kind. Some say I am like a big teddy bear. If I am it is because my Dad taught me how to be kind when I had the tendency to have a pretty bad temper. Some say I am one of the most caring, loving, and caring people they know. I guess if that is true it is because my Dad taught me the benefit of giving to others as opposed to expecting gifts. Don’t get me wrong; my Father has given me gifts beyond belief. I have everything I need, and then some. I have done things because my Father has been there to bless me. I can honestly say there have been times I wanted to go places, see things and who provided a way? My Father.

Dad has been there for a lot of years now to teach me. It hasn’t always been fun, sometimes, well actually, a lot of times, that teaching involved correction. Thankfully, the correction was never abusive or anything of that nature. It was just right, just right to get the point across and help me learn behavior and habits that in the long run brought me joy. If anyone has ever had the perfect Father, I think I have.

Some say they don’t like being around their parents all the time. I think that is true, but I can honestly say, with my Dad I enjoy his company. In fact, I am not with him as much as I would like. I wouldn’t mind spending every moment of every day with him. I spend more time with him than a lot of people spend with their dads, and while I upset at him sometimes, he lets me. He lets me be myself and take it out on him. Then, he gently lets me know the truth about the situation, and lets me know things happen for a reason and while I may not know the reason he does all he can to make sure I am taken care of and that things happen the way they do because he loves me so much.

I could go on and on about the incredible Father I have. There is a point of clarification though. You see my earthly dad was killed in a car accident before I was one-year-old. My mother remarried, her second husband was a hobo and was killed while hopping a train when I was about 4. She remarried a third time; her third husband was abusive to my sister, my mom, and me. Her fourth husband was alcoholic and ended up dying from complications related to alcoholism. I never knew a dad. I left home before I was 14-years-of-age and stayed where ever I could find a place to lay my head. For much of that time I was homeless. While in my last two years of high school I stayed between relatives and friends homes and the YMCA transient center where I lived most of the time. To this day, I don’t know much about any of the men my mother married. What I know about them isn’t the most pleasant things. In reality, I have no idea what a earthly father is other than what my heavenly father has taught me. Despite these difficulties while growing up, along the way, I was adopted, not by a man, but by God.

The Bible is very clear, as was Jesus in his teachings, that God is our father once we become Christians. For those that know me, that see any value in me, or my life. Know that it is because of what my dad did for me, nothing else. I have all I have, am who I am, because of a loving Heavenly Father.

Dad, Happy Fathers Day!

1 John 3: 1-3 – (1) Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ is, they don't know who we are. (2) My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know that when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. (3) This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ is holy.

o become more a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more indepth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately video ipods for viewing and teaching. You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.