Not your normal Father’s Day
Growing up as a preacher’s kid, I never understood Lionel Richie’s song, “Easy Like Sunday Morning.” Sunday mornings were early and chaotic at our house! It seems like all of our family rhythms were different from my friends’ homes. Dad took Mondays off. Not only was I at school on his only day off, but he also wasn’t around on weekends until late Sunday afternoon. Every Christmas Eve we were at the church until midnight candlelight worship was over. One of the most ironic family rhythms had to do with Father’s Day. My Dad’s denomination held its annual regional meeting the week and weekend of Father’s Day. I was never around dad on Father’s Day until I was an adult. I think that made the time that we had together more sacred. My childhood memories of dad are the backpacking trips we took. We didn’t wake up late on a Sunday and eat pancakes like my friends, but we did wake up early to hike into the mountains and fish for rainbow trout. Even if it was an afternoon walk on a hiking trail or a drive to the game reserve to run the dog, dad always made sure we spent quality time together every week. I have so many amazing memories of time with dad that I treasure to this day.
As Father’s Day approaches, I’m getting ready to travel to Honduras. Hillspring partners with subsistence farming families in mountain villages who no one else will work with. We start with basic health like sanitation and water projects, then we move to housing and agriculture among other things. One of the things we will do this trip is scout out a new mountain village to journey with. We’ve learned so much about community development over the years. We’ve come up with an assessment process that helps assure the success of a village. One of the greatest indicators of success we have has to do with how the fathers in a potential village relates to their wives and children (and their dogs). We discovered a direct correlation between the success of a village and how their families interrelate. The importance of family dynamics are magnified in a microculture like the remote Honduran village comprised of a dozen or so families. Once we added family culture to our assessment process our community development leveled up.
This week we celebrate Fathers as we begin a new season of our work in Honduras. I wonder if we can use this week as an opportunity to recommit to the children that God has entrusted to our church. The kids in our partner villages in Honduras, the kids through our community engagement work in the Tri Cities and of course, the kids of Hillspring’s children and youth ministries. With so many kids relying on our church, it’s obvious that God has placed a tremendous amount of confidence in our church! I’ve always felt if the church’s only focus was on making the world a better place for children God would be pleased. On this Father’s Day weekend, how might God be calling you to join us as we answer God’s call to serve God’s children.
Your Pastor,
Bryan