This weekend we honor fathers, dads, pops, grandpas, papas, uncles, brothers, and father figures all over the country! Happy Father’s Day! Father's Day was inaugurated in the United States in the early 20th century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fathers, fathering, and fatherhood. Father's Day was founded in Spokane, Washington at the YMCA in 1910 by Sonora Smart Dodd, and the first celebration was in the Spokane YMCA on June 19, 1910.
Dodd’s father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there. After hearing a sermon about Anna Jarvis's Mother's Day at Central Methodist Episcopal Church in 1909, she told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father's birthday, the pastors of the Spokane Ministerial Alliance did not have enough time to prepare their sermons, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father%27s_Day_(United_States).
Way to go, Sonora! She saw a need and met it. As she saw her dad do so many times. So, let’s hear it for fathers! I was blessed to have both a father and a stepfather. Combine that with two older brothers who loved to boss me around, and needless to say there were lots of male voices in my life! I have fond memories of my dad spoiling me (and later my children) every holiday with huge boxes of Valentine candies, Easter baskets, and Christmas gifts galore! I’ve been told that I have my father’s eyes.
I also have fond memories of my stepdad teaching me how to drive and letting me borrow the station wagon on occasion to go to the mall. He came into my life when I was 15 years old. The funny thing is, people used to tell me that I look like my stepfather, too! It seems that the more time you spend with a person, you begin to resemble each other. Some people have mistaken me and my husband for siblings!
Well, both my dad and stepdad are celebrating Father’s Day in glory now. And along the way there have also been men in church and school who have poured into my life in profound ways. But what brings me joy now is seeing my brothers as fathers. They may not admit it, but I can see traits and habits in them that remind me of our father.
And it’s the same way with God, our heavenly Father. The more time we spend with God, the more we begin to act like Him, talk like Him, and yes, look like Him. Don’t believe me? Look in the mirror and you’ll see that you have your Father’s eyes! Eyes of love, compassion, and hope. Yeah, you’re a chip off the old block!
Join us this Sunday for a special tribute to fathers and father figures in our lives. You can worship in-house at 10:00am (masks optional), or you can also join us online. For online worship go to www.umcgt.org.
Breakthrough Prayer is moving forward! Do you have a prayer card? If you can’t come to the church, contact the church office and we’ll send you one. I encourage you to pray it not only at 11:24 am, but for every meeting and small group you do. Let’s saturate the church with prayer!
Have a wonderfully blessed Father’s Day!
“Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Exodus 20:12
Blessings,
Pastor Linda
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