{"id":4493,"date":"2021-06-12T05:34:04","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T09:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hispreciousgift.com\/wordpress\/?p=4493"},"modified":"2021-06-12T05:34:04","modified_gmt":"2021-06-12T09:34:04","slug":"heaven-serenades-the-longing-for-a-father","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hispreciousgift.com\/wordpress\/heaven-serenades-the-longing-for-a-father\/","title":{"rendered":"HEAVEN SERENADES: The Longing for a Father"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Heaven Serenades are poems that could be read or sung, called Psalms)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Father\u2019s Day is coming up next week, so this week I want to reflect, first, on our natural fathers and the roles they play in our lives. Here is an excerpt from a blog written in 2018 entitled, \u201cThe Power of Our Father.\u201d\u00a0GRACE WHISPERS &#8211; The Power of Our Father<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the years, as a counselor, I understand how easy it is for us to make judgments about people without knowing the environment they grew up in or the challenges they had to overcome in their lives. One powerful lesson my Lord Jesus taught me, The Counselor of the Universe<\/strong>, \u201cTresca, always focus on the root of the tree\u2026 behaviors are just the leaves.\u201d <\/em>With that in mind, I came to understand we are all like little trees planted in our parents\u2019 gardens. Their job is to care for and nurture our spirit, soul, and body so we can grow up as whole and healthy trees to express Christ\u2019s life on the earth.\u00a0 But what if the child\u2019s father is not present in the home, or if he is, doesn\u2019t provide the right love and care the child needs to grow up healthy but is abusive, distant, allusive, passive, or nonchalant about his duties as a father? What happens to the child?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The Role of the Father<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mothers are truly the foundation and strength of many families! In many homes, mothers had to fulfill the role of both mother and father which has been difficult for them to do, because they weren\u2019t created to be a father, only a mother. As designed by Our Heavenly Father, the father’s role is to establish a sense of security, stability, protection, guidance, sense of self-worth,<\/strong> and authority <\/strong>in his child\u2019s life. He is also to declare to his children their identity.<\/strong> He is to demonstrate and impart to them wisdom and what it means to BE<\/strong> the name given to them.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

My father gave me my first identity<\/em>. He demonstrated what it meant to BE a TRENT. To BE a TRENT, my father showed me, was to be creative, smart, drift from thing to thing, and person to person. One who defied authority broke the law, smooth-talker, used people with his charm to get what he wanted\u2026one lost soul<\/strong>. He neglected his responsibility to his children by rejecting, abandoning, abusing, and leaving them to fend for themselves. The four of us were part of the sad statistic of fatherless children<\/em>. (Please note: Before my father died, in his later life, he settled down, remarried, had my younger sister, Tracy, and gave his life to our Lord Jesus Christ).<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an article taken from Psychology Today<\/em>, researchers have shown most children rejected, abandoned, abused, or neglected by their father, even if he is in the home, suffer emotionally, psychologically, and especially spiritually. Here are ways they impact children:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n