Listen to your father, who gave you life; and don’t despise your mother when she gets old.
- Proverbs 23:22
A righteous person’s father will be filled with joy; yes, he whose son is wise will rejoice in him. So let your father and mother be glad; let her who gave you birth rejoice.
- Proverbs 23:24-25
Happy Father's Day!
Father's Day 2016.
My father is a retired Philippine army, but unlike other soldiers, he wasn’t really that strict. He’s not the stiff kind of a soldier father whom your friends would get scared of. My friends are actually friends with him. Some of you may think that it’s probably because I’m a girl and I’m the youngest. But I believe it’s because, he’s just naturally kind. In fact, at 64, he’s still the most polite person I know. Whenever he’s talking to someone, he would address him or her: “Sir”, “Ma’am”, “Nong” or “Nanay”, even if he’s the one older.
My mother and siblings are Globe users (and me too), while my father is a Smart subscriber. But, whenever I feel that I want to talk to someone, Papa is always the first on my list. I can’t call him so I would settle with texting. My father and I are textmates, like friends. Or when he calls me (using Mama’s cellphone), we always start our conversation like this: “Kumusta ka naman?” Yes, with an intonation like that. And he cheers up me like this: “Kaya pa? Fight lang. Pray lang.” Or “fighting!”. And while he was saying those words, I could imagine him grinning. How I love it when he grins. These are just a few of the things I love about Papa. He is the one, among my family members, whom I could easily talk to.
However, I have to admit that despite him being kind, there was a time when he ran out of patience and I could no longer avoid being spanked by him. Like any child, there came a point of my life when I gave my parents a really hard time. I was fifteen then, I played NFS with my friend at a computer shop. And I came home late one night, very late. (My curfew during high school was 8pm.) I looked at him and for the first time I saw anger. I mean I’ve seen him angry before but not to me. My mother who is usually the one lecturing me, was surprisingly quiet. I found out he had been out looking for me. And I saw how disappointed he was because of my disobedience. “Alas-otso ngani, alas-otso!” I remember he said. It hurt so much because it never occurred to me that such time would ever happen. I always thought, I’m the exception to the whole spanking thing. I was very upset and I couldn’t even talk to him. And what hurt more is that he was not talking to me either. The physical pain was nothing to me at that time. I have been spanked less than I deserved anyway. What I couldn’t bear is the thought of him being angry to the point of spanking me. He must have been really furious. So, I made sure it was the first and the last instance.
Back in high school, I didn’t fully understand why they would tell me to do this and not do that, be like this and not like that. But to be honest, if I hadn’t listen to them, I never would have been able to graduate. My friends forgive me, but I could have been one of them who never finish college and got married so early or the ones who have been to vehicular accidents. I am forever grateful to my parents for leading me far away from a life that could possibly be full of regrets.
In verse 22, we are told to be obedient to our parents at all times regardless of their age. So as in Ephesians 6:1, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” That what they would say will do us no harm. They grow old, we grow up, the duties may change but basically, it’s all about being guided to the right path. And verse 24 and 25 tells us that nothing would make them more proud and happy than to see us, their children, become the person they hope we would be.
Just as there were times when I would sit with Papa or text him and complain about the things around me, tell him how mad I am about the events that didn’t come out the way I expect it to be, times when I feel I am not treated fairly (and he would just calmly tell me to relax, assuring me that we’ll find a way to turn things around, and sometimes, he would tell me to try to understand); there were also those times when we complain to God about how are life is turning upside down, and we don’t understand why things have to happen this way and that way. But constantly, we are reminded by the scriptures to be slow to anger, be patient and keep the faith. God’s plans are better than ours.
Being a father is more than just being the provider. Our earthly fathers are supposed to be the picture of our heavenly Father. But they are not perfect. There would come a time when they would fail. But I like to believe that all fathers endeavor to be like the Father God.
Most of us would find it hard to express what we feel to the people we love. We all have our own stories. We are not perfect, our fathers are not either. But they are still our father. We should not let this day go without letting them know how grateful we are for simply having them as our father, whatever the circumstances are.
Again, my father is not perfect. But I would not trade him for the world. It’s even hard to trade your most valued possession for something else, how much more trading the person you cherish the most? I thank God for giving me a two-in-one, a best friend and a father. More importantly, I thank God for lovingly guiding me to the right path when I lose my way, for always forgiving me when I sin, for continuously loving me unconditionally, and for sending His own to save someone like me.
- M
- Proverbs 23:22
A righteous person’s father will be filled with joy; yes, he whose son is wise will rejoice in him. So let your father and mother be glad; let her who gave you birth rejoice.
- Proverbs 23:24-25
Happy Father's Day!
Father's Day 2016.
My father is a retired Philippine army, but unlike other soldiers, he wasn’t really that strict. He’s not the stiff kind of a soldier father whom your friends would get scared of. My friends are actually friends with him. Some of you may think that it’s probably because I’m a girl and I’m the youngest. But I believe it’s because, he’s just naturally kind. In fact, at 64, he’s still the most polite person I know. Whenever he’s talking to someone, he would address him or her: “Sir”, “Ma’am”, “Nong” or “Nanay”, even if he’s the one older.
My mother and siblings are Globe users (and me too), while my father is a Smart subscriber. But, whenever I feel that I want to talk to someone, Papa is always the first on my list. I can’t call him so I would settle with texting. My father and I are textmates, like friends. Or when he calls me (using Mama’s cellphone), we always start our conversation like this: “Kumusta ka naman?” Yes, with an intonation like that. And he cheers up me like this: “Kaya pa? Fight lang. Pray lang.” Or “fighting!”. And while he was saying those words, I could imagine him grinning. How I love it when he grins. These are just a few of the things I love about Papa. He is the one, among my family members, whom I could easily talk to.
However, I have to admit that despite him being kind, there was a time when he ran out of patience and I could no longer avoid being spanked by him. Like any child, there came a point of my life when I gave my parents a really hard time. I was fifteen then, I played NFS with my friend at a computer shop. And I came home late one night, very late. (My curfew during high school was 8pm.) I looked at him and for the first time I saw anger. I mean I’ve seen him angry before but not to me. My mother who is usually the one lecturing me, was surprisingly quiet. I found out he had been out looking for me. And I saw how disappointed he was because of my disobedience. “Alas-otso ngani, alas-otso!” I remember he said. It hurt so much because it never occurred to me that such time would ever happen. I always thought, I’m the exception to the whole spanking thing. I was very upset and I couldn’t even talk to him. And what hurt more is that he was not talking to me either. The physical pain was nothing to me at that time. I have been spanked less than I deserved anyway. What I couldn’t bear is the thought of him being angry to the point of spanking me. He must have been really furious. So, I made sure it was the first and the last instance.
Back in high school, I didn’t fully understand why they would tell me to do this and not do that, be like this and not like that. But to be honest, if I hadn’t listen to them, I never would have been able to graduate. My friends forgive me, but I could have been one of them who never finish college and got married so early or the ones who have been to vehicular accidents. I am forever grateful to my parents for leading me far away from a life that could possibly be full of regrets.
In verse 22, we are told to be obedient to our parents at all times regardless of their age. So as in Ephesians 6:1, “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” That what they would say will do us no harm. They grow old, we grow up, the duties may change but basically, it’s all about being guided to the right path. And verse 24 and 25 tells us that nothing would make them more proud and happy than to see us, their children, become the person they hope we would be.
Just as there were times when I would sit with Papa or text him and complain about the things around me, tell him how mad I am about the events that didn’t come out the way I expect it to be, times when I feel I am not treated fairly (and he would just calmly tell me to relax, assuring me that we’ll find a way to turn things around, and sometimes, he would tell me to try to understand); there were also those times when we complain to God about how are life is turning upside down, and we don’t understand why things have to happen this way and that way. But constantly, we are reminded by the scriptures to be slow to anger, be patient and keep the faith. God’s plans are better than ours.
Being a father is more than just being the provider. Our earthly fathers are supposed to be the picture of our heavenly Father. But they are not perfect. There would come a time when they would fail. But I like to believe that all fathers endeavor to be like the Father God.
Most of us would find it hard to express what we feel to the people we love. We all have our own stories. We are not perfect, our fathers are not either. But they are still our father. We should not let this day go without letting them know how grateful we are for simply having them as our father, whatever the circumstances are.
Again, my father is not perfect. But I would not trade him for the world. It’s even hard to trade your most valued possession for something else, how much more trading the person you cherish the most? I thank God for giving me a two-in-one, a best friend and a father. More importantly, I thank God for lovingly guiding me to the right path when I lose my way, for always forgiving me when I sin, for continuously loving me unconditionally, and for sending His own to save someone like me.
- M
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