Will They Walk in My Footsteps?

It was Fathers’ Day. We were away from our kids getting ready to go to church in a little East Texas community. As I got dressed, I did something I don’t usually do — I pulled on my pants before I put on my socks. Now that may not seem like a big deal to you, but as I looked down at those ugly, bony, hairy-toed, flat feet at the bottom of my pants, an overwhelming reality hit me. Those are my daddy’s feet!

It was like I was back in preschool pestering him while he was dressing for work or we were playing in the shower and I was stepping on his bare bony feet. I had never realized it, but I had seen them hundreds of times growing up. I had never noticed that I noticed my daddy's feet, but I had. Here I was seeing them again, only on the end of my own legs!

Now my daddy blessed me with many things before his death, but I had never noticed I’d picked up his feet. I’m not sure he would be that thrilled. Amy Grant sang a long time ago about having her Father’s eyes, but what I got were my daddy’s feet!

Of course I’m kidding. In addition to the those ugly, bony, flat feet, my dad also blessed me with his faith, his ethics, his love for family, his passion for work, his love for people, his competitive spirit of achievement and his positive hope in the future. Many of the things that have led life and the Lord to bless me, I picked up from him. For so many things I have good in my life, I thank him, even though he went to be with the Lord nearly seventeen years ago.

Being away from my kids on Father's Day got me thinking. Whether I like it or not, my children are picking up a lot of things from their daddy. If they're going to get anything more important than ugly, bony, flat feet, I had better be around them enough to intentionally share it with them! I want them to remember something beside ugly feet when they think of their daddy.

Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it. (Proverbs 22:6)