Do not underestimate the power of father's in our children's lives

3 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Timothy 3



Recently, our family had a nest of  duck eggs waiting to be hatched. Yesterday, I learned that most of the ducklings hatched with the ma ma duck walking her babies away to a new life. Some of those ducks never made it and laid in their now dead in their shell.

At the very heart of the problems in society is the absence of fathers. Men have become lover's of themselves and instead of focusing on their families they lust after money, fame, sex, and they become obsessed with their bodies to the point where they set the standard for their spouses and if their spouse refuses to meet that standard they are out of there.

Over the years my heart as ached over the news of friends leaving their wives, leaving their children without a father, and throwing their families into financial turmoil. Once having the relative comfort and security of a stable home families have been forced to leave their homes for the unstable lifestyle of apartment living and wondering where their next meal will come from. Children go from seeing their dad on a daily basis and being tucked into bed every night with a bedtime story to seeing their dad's weekly, if they are lucky, but in an environment away from their how most children see their dad's.

The absence of father's is equivalent in many family units as hopelessness. As much as the church tries to meet the needs of a newly divorce family nothing can possibly replace the love and affection of a dad playing with his kids, hugging those kids, wiping their tears, and encouraging them with words of hope.

Children in the environment of not having a dad will turn to things that will not be healthy for them. Drugs, alcohol, hanging out with the wrong crowd, and staying out all night will become these children's constant companions because when dad leaves the home it leaves mom with little choice than to attempt to pick up the pieces by working more and spending less time with them.

The solution, although in many eyes, seems overly simplified, is for men to keep their marriage vows they made to their wife and to love them until death do you part. Keeping your vow you made to your wife is the single most important thing you can do to keep your family together and give hope to your children. It sends a message to your kids that God is very real and he wants to be part of your life just as He has been part of my life. Remaining faithful to your wife helps your children be secure with who they are and enables them to become who they can be in Christ. Staying committed to your family is a patriotic thing to do just as going to war to defend your country. Men, we are called to defend our families and keep them from harm's way.

If you are entertaining thoughts of leaving your family I would encourage you to be accountable to other men in your life who's marriages are still intact and talk with someone about what you are feeling. The survival of your children just very well may depend on that decision.