And Thank You Fathers For All You Do

A Successful Dad

(Selected)

 

I may never come to glory;

I may never gather gold;

Men may count me as a failure

When my business life is told;

But if he who follows after

Shall be manly, I’ll be glad,

For I’ll know I’ve been successful

As a little fellow’s Dad. 

It’s the one job I dream of,

It’s the task I think of most;

If I’d fail that growing youngster

I’d have nothing else to boast;

For though wealth and fame I’d gather

All my future would be sad

If I failed to be successful

As that little fellow’s Dad.

I may never be as clever

As my neighbor down the street;

I may never be as wealthy

As some other men I meet;

I may never have the glory

That some other men have had;

But I’ve got to be successful

As that little fellow’s Dad 

There are certain dreams I cherish

That I’d like to see come true;

There are things I would accomplish

Ere my working time is through;

But the task my heart is set on

Is to guide a little lad;

And to make myself successful

As That little fellow’s Dad.

 

Father

(Selected) 

• 4 years – My daddy can do anything
• 7 years – My dad knows a lot, a whole lot
• 8 years – My father doesn’t quite know everything
• 12 years – Oh well, naturally father doesn’t know everything
• 14 years – Father?  Hopelessly old-fashioned.
• 21 years – Oh that man is out of date. What did you expect?
• 25 years – He knows a little bit about it, but not much.
• 30 years – Must find out what dad thinks about it.
• 35 years – A little patience, let’s get Dad’s meaning first.
• 50 years – What would Dad have thought about it?
• 60 years – My dad knew literally everything
• 65 years – I wish I could talk it over with Dad once more.

A Father’s Prayer

(General Douglas MacArthur) 

Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory. 

Build me a son whose wishbone will not be where his backbone should be; a son who will know Thee – and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge. 

Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge.  Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail. 

Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past. 

And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously.  Give him humility, so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. 

Then, I, his father, will dare to whisper, “I have not lived in vain.” 

“And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”