Some years ago, I was a new dad.  I also had a full-time job with a 1 ½ hour each way commute and was getting an MBA.  As you may guess, time was at a premium for me.

My conscience, which I call my “Moral GPS,” was getting inputs from a couple of places.  First was a coworker I’ll call “Steve”.  He was a senior person at the non-profit where I was working at the time, had a book at his desk called “God’s Instruction Book for Dads”, and liked to speak his mind.  He once told me his teenage daughter refused to ever talk to him, which he brushed off as “typical teenager”.  What made that comment more interesting was that I later mentioned making sure to leave work in time to see my daughter before she went to sleep.  She was only a few months old at the time.  “Steve” asked me “what do you want to waste your time with that for?  She won’t remember any of it!”

The other voice, and the one I listened to, was my wife.  Any opportunity where I was home, and our daughter needed a bath or a book read to her, or anything, my wife often suggested I do it.  “You’ll regret it if you don’t”.  Of course, her voice aligned with “the right thing to do” and so I did my school or work at other times.  I didn’t get fired, and I graduated in time.  But, most importantly, I just told this story about Steve and mom to my daughter when she was almost an adult, as we were talking and having pancakes together for dinner[1].  Relationships take time, and they also take a commitment to sorting out the numerous influences in your conscience and choosing what glorifies God.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a perfect dad, but actions have consequences, and we shouldn’t take anything for granted.  Fathers and mothers matter, and they sometimes need encouragement and reminders to be good parents.  I once had a conversation with someone right before Father’s Day who said he wasn’t needed anymore because his kid was now a teenager.  This was a lie.  I told him that he mattered to his son and always will.

This Father’s Day, show someone specific that they are a priority, no matter what others might say or think!

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[1] Breakfast for dinner is an amazing thing.