Sweetheart and I like to go to Bluegrass concerts and festivals.
We see a lot of our friends there. And we see the same people from time to time who become friends. Sometimes we get to talk to some members of the bands. A couple of weeks ago, we met a band member who was six years old.
Actually, we met him and talked to him before the performance and before we knew he was a member of the band. He had his own little guitar. Later, when the music began, he stood beside his dad on the stage, strummed his guitar and sang.
As the band was playing, I thought that dad was being a wonderful example for his son. It reminded me of another young fellow, now 16 years old, who started out the same way. He is now an excellent musician and an upstanding citizen.
There is no substitute for a good example. And who is better equipped to do it than a person's own parent? Sometimes we lose sight of that fact. The Amish community has not.
Small children can be seen trailing along behind their fathers as they do their daily work or perform barnyard chores. As a result, they learn a lot of stuff--stuff that will prepare them for the working world--stuff they don't learn in school.
When Sweetheart and I were in the doctor's office yesterday, we caught a segment on one of the talk shows on TV. A woman lamented the fact that she had lots of photographs of her children as they grew, but she was in none of them. However, I saw no pictures of the children with their father in them either. The woman did not even mention their father. I wonder why. They had to have had one at some point in their lives.
Of course, there are many reasons why a child might not have a father. There are death and divorce. Sometimes a father chooses not to be a parent. Sometimes a mother doesn't want the father to parent the child. No matter what the case, the child misses out on that good example he/she could have had.
Wouldn't the world be a wonderful place if everybody had a loving father to put them on a productive path in life?
In the meantime, we have a Father in heaven to whom we can go to unburden our woes & thank for our many blessings.
Dorothy is the author of two books—“Miles and Miracles” and “Getting It All Together “. You can purchase a book or send a comment by emailing her at dorothybutzknight@gmail.com
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