One of my favorite titles in life is the title of Dad.  I am very blessed to have two beautiful and amazing daughters.  Gracie (12) and Hope (7) are full of life and adventure and they have taught me much and grown me in incredible ways.

Father’s Day is just around the corner and I thought I might share a few ideas about some amazing journeys that we Dad’s can go on with our children.  My hope is that these ideas will spark some ideas in each of our lives that might allow us to eperience some shared memories that we will never forget.

Nature Walk!  Take some time outside with your kids.  Look up at the sky and talk about the clouds or enjoy the majesty of the stars.  Investigate trees, flowers and bugs.  Maybe go for a hike, camping or at least a pic-nic.  Just get outside in nature and enjoy it together.

Reverse Education!  Find out what your kids are better at than you and let them take you to school.  Ask them questions about what they like or think about.  Ask them how they feel about certain things, and when they answer, really take the time to listen and learn.  This will actually help you to become a better person.

Road Trip!  Plan an excursion and take the scenic route.  Where you are going is not necessarily as important as how you get there.  You might get out a map, pick a destination and then let your child help guide you there.  Just have fun as you take in the sights, sounds and smells along the way.

Serving Others!  It is very important to teach our children about serving others.  It may be by picking up trash on the side of the road, visiting a shut in or serving in a soup kitchen.  Find something you can do together and do it to make life better for others.

These are just a few of the many ways that you can invest quality time into your children’s lives, as well as your own.

Remember:  The best way to spell love is TIME and the best time is QUALITY!

If God allows something bad, hard or tough to happen in your life, then you can count on and believe that it is ultimately for His glory.

Life is hard and you can expect to be hurt.  It does not matter how hard you work to avoid it, the plain hard reality is that if you live long enough, then life is going to take a bite.

Often time the hurt and pain will come from those that you have allowed to come the closest to you.

Their closeness is one of the things that hurts so bad.  You just can’t believe they would do or say some of the things they do and say, but they do and there is nothing fun about it!

Most of us have been through this at least once and many of us seem to have it playing like a broken record.

I was reading through my Bible and came across these words of FORGIVESS and FREEDOM that Joseph spoke to his brothers after their mistreatment of him, that took him on a horrible and very difficult journey.

His words help us to understand the attitude that we must posses, if we are to claim, experience and live in the victory that God has for us.

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”  Genesis 50:20

Others may do what they do to harm you, but if God allows it, then He has a plan to use it all for good.

The good that God wants to use it for, is to bring your life to a place where with and through your life; He can save many for His glory.

Hang in there, trust God and know that He has a plan bigger than anything you could dream or imagine.

A few years ago, my daughter Gracie was desperately wanting to learn to get across the Monkey Bars.  She could get to the first bar, but then that letting go in the swing, so she could grab hold of the next bar was a challenge that she just could not seem to overcome.  I would hold her up and assure her that I would not let her fall, but she still had a very hard time letting go of the bar behind her and grabbing hold of the bar in front of her.

Someone said that “Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”  Letting go is hard to do.  We hold on, because we think we are secure.  We hold on because we think it’s what others expect of us.  We hold on for our very own personal reasons.

Live life long enough and you are going to have more than your fair share of painful experiences.  If you want to move forward in life, then you have got to learn how to let go of painful experiences.  It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.  If you get good at letting go while swinging forward, then you will grab hold of the next bar and eventually you will find yourself at a whole new place in life.

Gracie finally made it across and when she did, she was one of the happiest girls in town.  May seem like a little thing, but moving forward is a big thing for all of us.  So let go of your painful experiences and move forward – you will be glad you did!