Parenting

As I drive from my mountain valley to the towns below I see acres and acres of fields. I watch as they turn from the dark brown of newly plowed soil to the faint green of sprouting grain and the darker green of growing potatoes. It is beautiful. Driving past those fields on pleasant summer days, it is hard to believe that I would ever be afraid to drive this road. But, those same glorious fields set the stage for some of the most treacherous, frightening driving experiences of my life. Winter driving across the dry farms is no joke when the conditions are bad. So when my friend, Kim, told me the story of her daughter and a winter drive across that road I knew exactly what she was talking about.

Our local high school was playing basketball against their rival school in Sugar City, and Kim’s daughter drove out with a group of friends to watch the game. Not long after the game was over, Kim got a phone call. “Mom,” her daughter said “the roads are really bad. I don’t think we can make it home.” “Well,” Kim told her, “You’ll just have to get into the car, say a prayer, put your hands on that wheel and come home as slowly and carefully as you can. I’ll be waiting for you.”

When her daughter arrived home Kim told her that she was glad she’d made it and had known she could do it. “I didn’t do it alone,” her daughter replied, “After I hung up with you, Amanda called her dad and he said. Hold on, I’ll meet you and we’ll come home together.”

“Hold on, I’ll meet you and we’ll come home together.” That simple sentence speaks volumes about the love of a father for his daughter and the lengths he will go to ensure her safety. This is the very essence of fatherhood.   Amanda’s dad did what all fathers who live according to the true nature of fatherhood would do. He rescued, protected and guided his daughter home.

How can I say with certainty that rescuing, protecting and guiding are elements of the true nature of fatherhood? It is because it is what I see in my Heavenly Father. Every time my road in life becomes dark and forbidding, every time I call to my Father for help, He comes to me. It is as if He says to me, “Hold on, I’ll meet you and we’ll come home together.” I feel Him with me on this journey of life. He sent his Son so I had a sure way back to Him.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf recently reminded the young women, “You are not alone on this journey. Your Heavenly Father knows you. Even when no one else hears you, He hears you. . .Heavenly Father’s interest in you does not depend on how rich or beautiful or healthy or smart you are. He sees you not as the world sees you; He sees who you really are. He looks on your heart and He loves you because you are His child.[i]” This is how fathers who live according to the true nature of fatherhood feel about their children. They love and care for them not because of their accomplishments or beauty; they love and care simply because they are their child.

I felt this in my home growing up. I knew my father loved me. I knew he would always watch out for me even when I thought I was too old to be watched out for. During my college year s I spent a year living at home to save money. It was New Year’s Eve and some of my friends had invited me to spend it with them. We played games and watched a movie. The time slipped by and it was close to 2:00 AM before I headed home. When I got there I found my mother up, waiting for me. She asked me where I’d been, why I hadn’t called and informed me that my dad was driving the streets looking for me. I was shocked. I was a big girl, I’d been on my own before and I could take care of myself.

When my dad got home he told me of his worry for me; he told me that it wasn’t that he didn’t trust me, he simply knew enough about the roads on New Year’s Eve to know they were dangerous. I hadn’t asked for his help but, still he had that instinct to come to me, to say in his heart, “Hold on. I’ll meet you and we’ll come home together.”

I think of fathers, who like the father of the prodigal son, have been rejected by their child. These fathers too want to protect and guide. Once their child is beyond their protection and guidance they turn with faith to the Father of us all to watch over their child. They pray for the day when that child will come to himself and return. They wait and watch until they see their child from afar and run to him. And the pounding of their feet beat to the rhythm of “Hold on. I’ll meet you and we’ll come home together.”

Our journey in life is often like the pleasant roads I drive during the summer. I don’t need any help. I can do it on my own. But there are times when life is like those scary winter roads, when I can’t see two feet ahead of me. For those times I am grateful for an Eternal Father and earthly fathers who live true to the nature of fatherhood. They are fathers who love, protect and guide. It is an essential part of who they are. They don’t think about it or plan how to do it. When the need arises, when a child calls out, when a rescue must be made they instinctively go. Whether voiced out loud or in their hearts their answer always remains, “Hold on. I’ll meet you and we’ll come home together.”