When Mother´s Day comes around, we always handle the holiday with care, because we have a few kids in our ministry whose mothers have died. We are sure to include other kinds of mother-figures in our celebrations, like grandmothers and aunts. One way or another, all of our little ones find that woman in their life who has taken on the role of mother, and deliver their heartfelt craft, hug and kiss to her.
But Father´s Day is different.
Among the children we work with, you will be hard-pressed to find a child whose father is a part of their life. Sure, we do have a few great dads, those who still live with and support their families. But the majority of our kids have been abandoned by their fathers. Some have lost their fathers to alcohol or drugs, some have lost them to new wives and new families, some have lost them to irresponsibility and fear, and still others have lost them to death.
How do you walk into a room of children who have no father, and talk to them about Father´s Day? Do you ignore it? Pretend today is just another day? Do you happily make some craft for the day, hoping they will find someone to give it to? What would you do?
My girls made several little crafts for their father for Father´s Day, and we put them into a basket with small presents we had purchased and gave those gifts to him. We spent the day loving on him, doing things he likes to do, and eating his favorite foods. It was a day all about Daddy. I think about my girls, and how blessed they are to have a mother and a father, and then I think about the kids in our ministry, and it breaks my heart. There is a Mother´s Day and a Father´s Day, but is there a Fatherless Day? An Orphan Day?
The reality of the lives of these children keep me up at night. They break my heart, they infuriate me, they fill me with frustration because there is so little I can do. But the truth is that these children do have a father. They have a father who loves them, a father who will never abandon them, a father who cares for them, a father who gave everything to be with them. They have a father, and if there is nothing else I can do, I can spend the time I have with these little ones helping them get to know Him, because He is my Father, too.
This Father´s Day, please do celebrate the wonderful fathers in your life. Having a father is a blessing and privilege, and they deserve to be pampered and spoiled and loved on and celebrated. But somewhere in your day, say a prayer for the many in this world who are fatherless, and think about how you might be able to bless them, so that they can have something to celebrate, too.
