Father’s Day Let Us Be Transformed (Message with Humor)

Someone had noticed that the word father appears in the dictionary just before the word fatigued and just after the word fathead. So to all us fatigued, fathead fathers, Happy Father’s Day! (Pause)

One time a little boy was asked to define Father’s Day and he said, It’ s just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the present.

Last week I found a site called Kids speak a different language:

Parents frequently make the mistake of thinking they speak the same language as their children. We see this kind of misunderstanding all the time.

Even though we Americans and the English people supposedly speak English there is often misunderstandings.

For instance when an American says "bonnet" they mean a kind of hat. When the Englishman says "bonnet" they mean the hood of a car.

The same is true when talking with your children.

At first it seems we are all speaking English but, on closer inspection, it becomes clear that kids and parents speak entirely different dialects.

In the interest of better trans-generational communication, here are some key phrases and their translations.

"I cannot finish my hamburger." Meaning: Your son has eaten enough.

Or, "I cannot finish my fish." Meaning: Your daughter, who doesn’t much like fish in the first place, figures she’s eaten enough to satisfy you and still get dessert.

"I can’t finish my dessert." Meaning: Your child is defiantly sick and should be taken to the doctor ASAP.

"I didn’t do it." Translation: It has not been conclusively proven that I did it.

"Frankie Smith is such a no-good rotten liar!" Meaning: Expect a call from Frankie’s parents.

"Mom said it was okay." Translation: I’m going to ask Mom as soon as you say "yes."

"Dad, can I have a dog?" Meaning: Your son wants a dog.

"Dad, can I have a boa constrictor?" Meaning: Your son wants a dog, but figures asking for something really awful put him in a better bargaining position.(Pause)

I think that all parents can testify that their children or grand-children do speak a different language than they do - and it is one of the reasons that it is Hard to bring up Children.

There are other reasons of course (Pause) but I don’t want to go into those today (Pause) rather I want to speak to the men who are here both fathers and grandfathers (Pause)about some of the things we can do make ourselves better parents and grandparents.

There is a wonderful wisdom saying in Proverbs 22:6 "Bring up a child in the way he should go - and when he is old he will not soon depart from it".

We love our children and grandchildren and treat them well yet sometimes they turn away from us; (Pause) sometimes they journey on roads that we do not understand or approve of; but in the end (Pause) if our hearts are open (Pause) if the foundation is well laid (Pause) we see them return to us (Pause) as the Prodigal Son returned to his Father.

This seems to be the record of things. If the door is open, they will normally pass through it.

I think part of the problem we have as parents is not that we have difficult children or even that they speak a different language than we do (Pause) though all this is very often true.

I am convinced a portion of the problem is that we too often do not know the way our children should go and more importantly (Pause) even when we know the way (Pause) we so