The Critical Nature of Fatherhood

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all are having a great time this week celebrating Thanksgiving and everything. I know I am. And I wanted to put a focus on that for a little for this blog post. 

Something that I have always been grateful for, and I think a lot of people will agree with this, is my family. They've done a lot for me, and I don't know where I would be without them. I'm grateful for both my mother and my father, and they are a huge part of who I am today. 

I've heard it been said that a mother is the only truly necessary part of a family. A father isn't as necessary or important as a mother. However, I don't necessarily believe that it is true. Sure, the world would like to make us believe that fallacy. In fact, the further in the future we go, the more and more it seems like they promote this belief all over television. I mean, how often in movies is the father made out to be the goofball. The complete buffoon. Men are being depicted in movies a lot more useless than ever before. And especially with the rise in feminism, this is growing more as a predominant belief. It's very sad. In fact, a lot of research shows that a child who grows up with only a single mother, is likely to have more problems later in life. These things can range anywhere from addictions, to depression, and even same sex attraction. Therefore, having a father figure there, a person to set another example in the family, is crucial to a child's effective upbringing. I'm not discounting women at all; they are very important and should work hand in hand in raising a child. There are things that both parents need to teach a child that the other cannot really do solely by themself. 

It reminds me of my own father, and all of the things that I learned from him. I definitely believe that i would not be the same man that I am today, were it not for him. He taught me so many different principles and life lessons that I take with me today. He taught me how to be a better man, and how to be a good father when I eventually do take part in fatherhood myself. I learned to be confident in myself, and I learned through his example more about what I want the rest of my life to look like. I cannot honestly hear that fathers are not essential to the development of a child and believe that it is true. I have years and years of anecdotal evidence through living under the same roof as my own father, that they are so important for children. Especially young boys. It gives them an example, and also encouragement to fulfil their own roles and responsibilities that society has placed on them. 

In an article centered on why fatherhood is important, Danny Huerta said that "As a dad, you bring essential momentum to your home. You bring a specific type of feel, action, and movement to your home in all areas of life. The importance of a father can be seen physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and relationally in a family" (link to article included below). Elsewhere in the article, Herta claimed that fathers are 'essential personnel.' They teach many valuable lessons that can only be taught by a father. 

When I ponder on how important it is to have two parents who love their children, I can't help but be drawn to the example that our first parents set on the earth, Adam and Eve. They both demonstrated a strong work ethic and gave their children a positive example to follow. They should be what we strive to make our own families look like. We may not be living during their time and there are a lot of things that have changed since then. However, families are an eternal principle, and that is one thing that has stayed consistent throughout all of time. Just that fact alone, should give our family more purpose entirely, with both parents involved in the work of creating families that will last eternally. 

I hope you're Thanksgiving has been going well, and feel free to comment below the things that you're grateful for! I'd love to hear all of the different things you have thought about this Thanksgiving season. 

Father's Matter: The Importance of a Father (Online Article)
https://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/fathers-matter-the-importance-of-a-father/