Sunday 17 June 2012

A Tribute to the World's Greatest Father




Today is Father’s Day a day that is set aside to give thanks for our earthly fathers. Today I know that unfortunately many in our world do not have or did not have a good relationship with their father for various reasons but I am very thankful for my father. Permit me to share a few insights that I have realized over the years concerning my father and how I believe he has displayed qualities that make him the world’s best father.
            First off, my father Arthur Daniel Goldsmith has given me his name, Daniel. My parents like to joke that they ran out of names to name their firstborn! The truth is that I am actually Daniel the fourth as my great grandfather, my grandfather, my dad and me were all named Daniel. I view this name with great delight as it means my father cherished himself as he cherishes me. The name also is a reminder that I should have a relationship with God as the very name means God is my Judge.  Just as my earthly father cares for me and looked out for me my heavenly father looks out for me and cares for me and desires that I live for him.
            Secondly, I am thankful for my father in that he has taken time out of his busy schedule over the years to spend time with me on an individual basis. For all my life my father has been involved in full-time Christian service be it as a pastor or in other capacities in ministry. I know that there have been times when he has mentioned that he felt he didn’t spend as much time with my siblings and myself as much as he felt he should and maybe sometimes I felt that too, but I have many fond memories of times being alone with him and also as a family. To this day I can still remember a trip he and I took to Saskatchewan when I was 8 years old and he was a representative of a mission called the Janz Team showing films to churches and schools. We went to Briercrest, just he and I, and I can still remember various aspects of our time together. I believe it is even more special to me in that it was just about a month after that trip in 1970 that I could have been orphaned in an accident, which I mentioned in a previous blog, my parents had. It was very special. There have been other times as well such as going to the radio station in Vernon, B.C. with him around the time of my fifth birthday and watching him do his radio broadcast and it was just he and I.
            Over the years other children maybe did have more time with their fathers but after the games or whatever it seems that fathers think that they have done their duty and that is good enough. My father took an interest in us not only by once in a while watching us at our swimming lessons or in my case coming to hear my attempts at speaking in college or even when I was a pastor but also encourage me and my siblings in what we did. I cherish the many walks I have had with my father over the years, and especially the more recent years as these have been times when I felt I have gotten to know my father and his heart and also been able to share my concerns about different things with him. Yes, maybe other fathers say they spend lots of time with their kids but I am thankful for the quality times I had with my dad.
            Thirdly I am thankful that my father has been a role model to me in so many ways. As I said earlier I realize that there are many in society today that don’t have good recollections of their father or even know their father but my father has been the kind of father that gives me a good idea of my heavenly Father. I am thankful that my father has shown to me how a man should treat his wife. Though I have never had privilege of being married I have watched my father for the past 50 or so years cherish his wife, my mother. I have said it before but I have never seen my parents argue or fight in front of my siblings or me nor put each other down. My father has cared for my mother and I think it is neat that even after nearly 53 years of marriage they like to be together and do things together. Sure they both have slowed down physically over the years but they care for each other and my dad knows how to treat mom right.
            My father has also been a role model to me in spiritual matters. He didn’t just talk the talk as a Christian but he has lived it out in practice before me. As a matter of a fact it was my father that led me to the Lord on August 6, 1966 in his study at the church in Vernon, B.C. It was also my father that baptized me on June 3, 1973 as I took the step of believer’s baptism while we were living in Lethbridge, Alberta. Dad has reminded my siblings and me that he and mom care for us by praying for us on a daily basis and I know this for fact. In the more recent years as I have lived several hundred miles away from my parents I have cherished the times that my dad has prayed with me over the phone about certain situations and those prayers have meant a lot to me. I still have a card in my possession that was sent to me by my father when I was living in the States in the 1980s which stated “Remember when I used to lift you up as a child? I still do before the throne of grace in prayer.” I have received many cards over the years from people and relatives but that one card is the most special to me as it shows me that dad cares for me spiritually enough to pray for me.
            On this Father’s Day I am again thankful for my dad and to him I say thanks for being the world’s greatest dad. Thanks Dad I love you.