He misses the friendship. He misses the talks. He misses the presence, but this morning, he wasn't missing what he lost. He was missing what he never received.
"I wonder if I made him proud.
I wonder if he was proud of me as a son."
I look at my friend, his generous heart, and his service to those in need, and I cannot fathom any man not being proud of such a son. I tell him that, but I know.
It doesn't matter if I tell him. He needed his dad to tell him.
So, dads, I'm telling you...
Your boys need to hear you say you are proud of them.
Boys need their dad's approval, even grown boys.
Don't know how to tell them how you feel? Find a way.
You're the dad.
That is your job.
And no matter what he says or how old he is, your son needs you to be the dad...the dad who is proud of his son...and tells him so.
Girls do, too. The approval of our fathers is SO important to who we are. All the data shows that dads are even more important than moms in giving children what they need.
ReplyDeleteBut, for those dads who can't or won't our Daddy steps in and shows us His love. He is the redeemer of that hole in our life. That doesn't mean I don't miss what I long for with my earthly father, but it means that I learn that he doesn't give me my worth so he can't take it away either.