A story of the fathers and grandfathers in my life

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father (the translation of Abba means Daddy).” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."

Romans 8:14-17

Last weekend I was honored for my parents to visit us. It was even more of a blessing that it was Father's Day. And to go even farther, it was the first service at North Way Oakland that Scott picked the songs to sing and the first time he spoke during the worship part of the service, so it was really special to us that my parents were there. 

For those of you unaware, my Dad grew up without a strong father figure in his life. His mother, a wonderful but dysfunctional woman, did not allow my Dad and Grandfather to have much of a relationship up until the time she passed, right around the time I was born. After she died, my Grandfather (my Pappy) remarried, which took him even farther away from my family. Often times I would tell my Dad what a great Dad he was and that I was sorry he didn't have a father figure in his life. Whenever I said this, my Dad would tell me that he was just sorry that I didn't have him as a Grandfather. How selfless he was. I apologize for the negativity of this... keep reading, there will be a happy ending.

Although my Pappy wasn't around much in my childhood, my Mom's Dad (my Papou... it's Greek!) was a fantastic influence in my life, and I was so many fond memories of time spent with him that I was cherish forever. He was a big part of my life, until cancer took him in early in my high school years. I still think of him often and am thankful for him. 

Within the past year, my Grandfather has come into the picture. Some unfortunate circumstances with his second wife led him to a place of needing assistance from my Dad. Although the situation is less than desirable that landed him back in our lives, we are so incredible thankful for rekindled relationships and the time we are able to spend with him in his later life. He now lives only 10 short minutes away from my parents. My parents take him to eat, bring him to our house, take him on adventures (they are cherry picking today!), cook for him, and so many more things a few times a week.  

I am so proud of my father for allowing his Dad back into his life. After the hurtful circumstances of his childhood and young adult life, he forgave his Dad and now has a functional relationship with him. They are able to enjoy each other's company and have the father-son relationship that neither of them had previously experienced. What an incredible and unexpected blessing!

My Dad is such a special man. When I think of him, I think of integrity. I think of honesty. I think of a man with so much wisdom and Biblical knowledge. He is a great teacher and a great leader. While he has his faults, like anyone does, he is an incredible father and friend to me, whose opinion and wisdom I respect very much. My relationship with him truly gives me a better insight into my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

I was blessed to have a Dad that has always been active in my life and a Heavenly Father who knew me before I was even concieved. Even further, I was blessed to have a wonderful Papou in my life up until his passing, and am now blessed in this stage of my life by my Pappy. But I know this isn't the case for so many.

On a separate, but related note, recently when counseling with a friend with an absence of a strong father figure, the Lord revealed something to me to share with this friend. Our fathers (and everyone else in our life) will fall short, and in some cases, have just plain messed their children up. But our Heavenly Father has been fathering us since before we were born and cares so much about us that he knows every hair on our head. While our earthly das may not have provided us with some things we wanted (to play catch, go to a baseball game, to have dad come to your piano recital), our Heavenly Father always provided us with what we needed. He protected us, He consoled us, gave us direction. While we may not have gotten all the things we wanted from our earthly fathers, we are getting... have been getting... and will get everything we need from our Heavenly Father.