OK, so today is Father's Day. Kind of a neutral day for me most years. My dad died 10 years ago, and I'm not a father myself, so ... pfftht.
This morning our church put on a lovely little sketch, playing out the Steven Curtis Chapman song "Cinderella" onstage. Here's the official Chapman video on YouTube:
Let's just say I was glad I stuffed a couple of tissues in my pocket before leaving for church this morning.
The pastor at my former church makes a point every year of telling people we shouldn't glibly go around and wish every man we see a happy Father's Day. For some it's a very painful day because they didn't have a father or because the father they had was a lout (or worse).
And then there are those who, like me, feel a sense of loss at never having become a father, at knowing we'll never experience the reality of that song.
This certainly isn't a matter for pity or self-pity, since the no-kids decision was one MLW and I made jointly and consciously. And our reasoning for the decision -- there are enough mouths to feed on this planet already -- still stands up.
Nevertheless, I still feel a certain emptiness at not having had (or taken) the opportunity to raise a child.
But here's the thing. God isn't limited by our decisions or our ideas of what a family is.
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in
Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
At the beginning of May, my nephew and his wife and their three children -- who had started in Michigan, lived the last three years in Florida and the last five months in Marietta, Ga. -- moved into a house three blocks from ours. The youngest of those three children is a 7-year-old blue-eyed blonde named Savannah who is my godchild. And she is CRAZY about her godfather. And I'm pretty crazy about her, too.
God has given me my Cinderella.
Don't you just love a happy ending?
