A Father and a Leader

Family depiction by a child

The changes men experience on becoming a father are not seen outside.  For many, it is a thrilling moment of joy and excitement.  The happiness along with it brought responsibility, which some denied vehemently.   Had it been thoroughly thought-through in minute details, it really is a new challenge to life.  To bring up someone in a world that one had already experienced, seems like impossible task.  However, amongst all the things in life, it was the greatest blessing one can achieved in a life time.

As much as the fervor of becoming a parent, there goes a huge obligation side-by-side.  I have known some fathers practically straying away from the responsibilities of being a father.  In contemporary world, there are Runaway Fathers as much as Runaway Mothers.  They must have their own reason for doing it.  However, when God invented family it never was intended to be that way.   Some biological parents are simply described as “sperm and egg banks” by their children, pertinent to some cases.

Apart from that, I am also blessed with a good father.  Dad used all his wisdom, some of them being innate, to raise us.  He stressed on living a life acceptable in the eyes of the Lord.  Although we could not achieve it in its entirety.  The importance of having our soul being saved was reiterated.  He guided us through the tumultuous period of adolescence, which helps me very much in particular.   In the midst of poverty, Daddy always gave us the best he could.  For that he would even bowed to wealthy persons for loans or for help.  Personally, I appreciate him because the courage to do that, it takes a lot.

Now I want to draw your attention to Joshua; who led the Israelites into the Promised Land, Canaan.  He was also a father.  During their journey, they have witnessed before them the wonders God had done for them.  Despite the insurmountable obstacles in their way he trusted in the Lord.  They started settling in the land of the Canaanites, when he warned the Israelites with his huge declaration:

“…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”*

They must have felt accomplished.  They are in the Promised Land.  It is time for celebration to embark on a new life in the new fertile land.  It is a Success Test for them. In this time of great importance, Joshua made this significant warning or declaration.

We are all immigrants or migrants in some way.  Some immigrate for better living while some migrated from smaller town to big cities.  While all of us did not taste success in the process very often, most of us have had success.  In this time we must look back and reaffirm our standpoint as Joshua did among the Israelites.  Are we among those usurped in the liberty we enjoyed in the place we live?

One more thing certain here is Joshua must have good command over his house.  He spoke for his households.  It shows the integrity of his house.  We now live in a world full of distractions, which hampers our family relations.  It also shows that he performed his duty as a father diligently.  Had all the households been like his, it would not be necessary to make that declaration amongst the tribes, but it is not.

Serving the Lord, in its entirety can be performed in many ways.   It is just necessary that the entire member need to be in one heart to carry on with the task.  To successfully passed-on the faith from generation to generation itself is a huge achievement.  Should the anchor of the family be the Almighty there’s not a thing to be added.

We are often enticed to go slow or even completely gave up in building or rebuilding the house.  More importantly, many gave up before they even started.  Everything starts from the house.  The failure of the society, the state as whole reflected the core of the family in our country.  Joshua is true leader, who led the Israelites as well as his house.   Let us also choose whom we want to serve in this short span of life.  What heritage we want to leave for our next generation?

Let’s  spread love, true love, followed by action.  I felt thankful to the fathers who are already leading the right way.  I also pray for all of us, the fathers, that we be given strength to perform our duties rightfully and happily.

*Joshua 24:15d (NKJV)

Home that’s where the heart is!

It was a hot summer day.  My son just came home from school.  After finishing his home assignments, it was time for him to take a short nap.  It is a great privilege for me to assists him in whatever I could.  I’d sing him a lullaby, which would coolly put him to sleep peacefully.  I would watch him sleeping from near, very dearly.  Somehow I was reminded of my childhood days.

Since my Kindergarten days, I had the privilege of living away from home in our relatives places.  I’d stayed in their places, which are miles away from home.  This practice helped us in many ways, mostly on financial grounds, as we could not afford good schooling.  This staying away from home gave me immense joy and experience in my life.

It was during the night, I mostly craved for home.  The touch of my parents and grandparents along with my siblings was deeply missed.  Many times, I remember lying in a pool of my own tears.  This was NOT because my relatives were harsh to me.  It was just that I missed home.  The smell of home just passed through my senses.  I was just a lonesome child far away from home.  I can recall my cousins ‘sympathizing’ me as best as they could.

Summer holidays are welcomed with great excitement.  For a short stay at home we would walk miles with gaiety.  Once I told my parents, I’d already shed enough tears for the love of them that I wouldn’t shed no more tears in their departure.  However, I realized that it was far from the truth.  When Daddy was diagnosed with cancer, I regretted going to the city for pursuing higher studies.  I told him straightaway I spent too little time with them.

Home that’s where the heart is! The corporal punishments and scolding for better behavior was still sweet from parents, not from anyone other than them.  In a matter of time, we all become grownups, which make it necessary to start making our own living and fight for our survival.  At that point of life, it was impossible to stay together if the pasture was thinning away with time.  Even now we lived faraway from home.  We need to find our own way of sustaining life.

For someone, I know, it might feel not worth telling or uncalled for.  I find it to be indispensable.   We need to remind ourselves what we’ve been through.   It is simple but close to my heart.   Your comments and experience, if available, would be appreciated.   Let me reiterate here again that;

Home that’s where the heart is!