Celebrate Dad!

Wise old King Solomon had a lot to say about fathers and mothers and how we are to respect and honor them. Regardless of our age or theirs, taking time to let our parents know how much we appreciate their labor of love for us will mean the world to them.

Did you know that our modern-day celebration of Father’s Day began more than a hundred years ago? It happened after a mining disaster in West Virginia, as Wikipedia details:

After the success obtained by Anna Jarvis with the promotion of Mother’s Day in Grafton, West Virginia, the first observance of a “Father’s Day” was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia, in the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South, now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton was mourning the loss of her father when, on December 1907, the Monongah Mining Disaster in nearby Monongah killed 361 men, 250 of them fathers, leaving around a thousand fatherless children. Clayton suggested her pastor Robert Thomas Webb to honor all those fathers.

But it was not until 1972 when Father’s Day officially became a national holiday, signed into law by President Nixon.

While our American celebrations of Mother’s Day and Father’s Day date back more than 100 years, there are those ancient pearls of wisdom on which our modern remembrances are based. King Solomon wrote frequently in the book of Proverbs about honoring mothers and fathers, respecting their wisdom and following their instruction.

Of course, we all know the saying, “Honor your father and your mother,” which originates first in the Bible as one of the Ten Commandments.

And so Father’s Day is a great opportunity to show dad our appreciation for his sacrifice, for his teaching, and for the provision he made for us, often without complaint.

Need some more encouragement about dear old dad? Read this insightful article titled “A Gift for Dad” by Chuck Swindoll.

Don’t forget, Father’s Day is Sunday, June 21, 2015!

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