Dad’s day is, for the lucky among us, a sentimental day of remembrance. It was funny that my dad wore his glasses into the shower because he forgot to take them off, until I did it – and did it often enough for it to become a joke in my family. I remember staring at his hands during those long lectures I deserved. At some point I realized that my brother’s hands look just the same as dad’s, and I was glad for the reminder. I’ve met many who did not have a good dad they want to remember. My dad had problems and issues, but I was lucky, very lucky.

I gave him a plaque with a Mark Twain quote, “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” It was a joking apology for the abuse my father suffered as a result of my immaturity. He expected it, and I provided with enthusiasm. I wore my immaturity like a badge of honor and would sacrifice anything to gain more of it. It was long after I was twenty-one when I realized that immaturity and stupid were close friends, if not twins.

We all have stereotypes of “Dad” that our fathers lived up to or avoided.

• He is always there, thick or thin.
• Completely trust worthy.
• Always looking for your best benefit.
• Will tell you everything that you don’t want to know but have to hear.
• Will enforce his will if it means protecting you from worse harm.
• Will allow you to suffer some of the harm you cause yourself if it is survivable and will teach you wisdom for the future.
• Will laugh or cry with you depending on which is necessary at the time.
• Provides for the necessities until you learn to provide for yourself.
• Trains you in a frame of reference which will guide you into having and maintaining a healthy life of success.
• Still provides for you as an adult because no one survives completely on their own best efforts.
• Examples that true love is sacrificial, understanding, and forgiving
• Has wisdom and stories that teach and inform.
• Provides a strength of character that continually lifts you up and pushes you forward, even when you are on your own, even after he is gone from the picture.
• The list can go on and on.

The more I work on this list the more familiar it becomes. I’m finding that a true dad, the purest form of the best stereotype, is a description of God. No human can live up to or completely fulfill the stereotype, but God can and does. We always have earthly examples for Kingdom of God things we need to understand. Jesus said, “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” John 3:12 ESV We can understand God because He uses examples that we can understand. We can understand “Dad.” That means that we can get what He means when He offers to be, and acts like, a Heavenly Father.

Yesterday was a great Father’s Day. The best part of it was that all of us had a Heavenly Father working to bring us closer to home and Himself. Dad really does love us in all the comfortable and uncomfortable ways that a true and perfect Dad does.