A tribute to my dad...

​Happy Father’s Day. It is a good day to reflect on and give thanks for our fathers, those who are still with us as well as those who have gone on. If you had a good father then you were indeed blessed. Over one third of children today have grown up without their biological father in the home. A large percentage of children have neither a father or a father figure. Some have grown up or grew up with an abusive father and for them it might have been better if there was no father in their home.
I’m so thankful for my father. He has now been gone for 24 years but I still miss him greatly. He taught me the importance of faith, family and hard work. From the time I was seven years old I worked an early morning paper route (Tampa Tribune) with my dad. He had over a thousand customers and it was a lot of work to deliver those papers every day. Dad also had a fulltime job selling insurance on a debit route. He taught me the importance of hard work and honesty. He also taught me something important about taking time away and going on vacation. I can count on one hand the number of vacations my family took together while I was growing up. It is for that reason that vacations with my family are so important to me. Finally, and most importantly my dad taught me the value of faith and modeled that by making sure his family was in church. There has never been a season of my life when I wasn’t involved in serving Jesus Christ through His church. I can thank my father for that.
If you didn’t have a good father growing up or never really had a father, I want to remind you that God has promised to be a father to the fatherless. As the current song says, “You’re a good Father, it’s who you, it’s who you are. And I’m loved by you, it’s who I am it’s who I am.” I’m also thankful for my heavenly Father who has always been there for me. He can and will be there for you as well.
Thankful for Godly Fathers,
Pastor Don