“The Quality of a Father…”

 “The quality of a father can be seen in the goals, dreams and aspirations he sets not only for himself, but for his family.” ―Reed Markham

Fathers are the best! I love my dad so much and this post is going to talk a lot about him because if you can’t already tell we are talking about Fatherhood. This week I read an article by L. Tom Perry, a now deceased religious leader for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, called Fatherhood, an Eternal Calling. 

In Elder Perry’s talk he lists three distinct roles on the shoulders of a father. As I share his thoughts with you I’ll share related story and experiences that I’ve had with my own father. He says, “First, the father is the head in his family.” What is meant by this is that the father leads the family and protects them. Together with his spouse, he makes decisions on how to raise up and guide the family. My father works for an airline company and with that our family has had the benefit of flying free, but that means we fly stand-by. That is where we fly on the plane if there are leftover seats and if the flight doesn’t have seats left or needs more we get bumped off, and for a family of five sometimes it is hard to make it on the same flight. I can remember when I was about 6 years old we were all taking a trip and we had to change planes somewhere, well the second plane only had three seats left. Now at six, I wasn’t great at math but I knew something wasn’t adding up right. My parents talked together and decided that my mother would get on the plane with my brother who was eight at the time and a good little helper and my baby sister who was only four at the time and they would go on while my father and I would stay back and try and catch the next plane out. We all went our separate ways and as a small girl away from part of her family I was sad so my dad, to take my mind off of it, walked around the airport with me, holding my hand the whole time. We went into one jewelry shop and I saw a beautiful necklace. It was three hearts connected together. My dad bought it for me and as he put it on me, I felt safe knowing that my dad would lead me safely to the other half of my family no matter what.

The second role of a father that Elder Perry mentions is, “the father is a teacher.” The word example come to mind when I think of this concept. Because while my father was not my school teacher and didn’t teach me about the Civil War, the formula for volume, or how to solve for sin in a calculus equation I’ve learned so much from my father. One the greatest characteristics of my father is that he’s got a big heart. The definition of charitable. Any free time he has is spent helping others fix broken cars, moving people, painting someone’s house, cutting down trees, or build a fence. The great thing is not only have I see his example of charity but he has invited me to do these activities with him and now I have learned some of these life skills. 

Lastly, “the father is a temporal provider,” says Elder Perry. The father should be the one who bring in the majority of the income in the family to allow the mother spending time nurturing the children. My father has been blessed with a great job that he’s had for over 25 years. He has been able to provide a comfortable income for my family and that has allowed my mother to stay at home and raise us. I have a wonderful mother who has been so involved in my life because she has not had to work. Not only does my father have a great job but he has taught all of his children to work hard for what we want in life and not to expect it to be handed to us. Thus teaching me and my sibling to provide for ourselves well.

Honestly I might be a little biased when I say this but my dad is the greatest dad in the world. Here’s why, not only has he taken upon him the three roles listed above but he has also been present in my life. Not because he has the time but because he makes the time. He works a lot and is tired at the end of most days but allows makes time to hang out with his family or invite I to do service with him. At the end of the day, knowing that I have a father that is always there for me is the greatest thing in the world.

Perry, L. Tom. “Fatherhood, an Eternal Calling.” Churchofjesuschrist.org, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 5 Apr. 2004, http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2004/04/fatherhood-an-eternal-calling?lang=eng&query=fathers+teachers.