Mike Rusch

There has been much talk today about what it means to be a father, and that is good.  However, I have also noticed that there has also been much talk about what it means to care for the fatherless.  Maybe this dual theme has been taking place for many years and I have just never noticed.  Or, maybe there really is so much more of it today than I can ever remember.  I pray it is the latter.

I think I have just two pictures to share.

These were taken just a few hours after Sosi was brought to us in Ethiopia.  While Corrie, Sosi and I rested in the courtyard, I had the pleasure of watching a new father and new son start their journey.

On this day it was a father’s day in the truest sense of the word.  It was a father’s day where the fatherless found a family to be a part of. 

I’ll never forgot watching those few moments unfold because the significance of what was playing out right before me was holy.  It was in this moment that the metaphor of becoming adopted in God’s family became so very clear.  There is no ocean that this father would not have crossed to bring this son home.  In this moment, God’s presence in their eyes was so clear.

A refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm, a healer to the broken, a father to orphan…this is our God.

And then this father did what every father should do with his son.  He stepped back and began to live in a moment filled with joy.

Today I ask myself a simple question…

Am I this kind of father? 

While my mind is only filled with my failures, I do have hope.  I have hope because this is the way that it should be - the way is was designed to be.

I pray I never forget this moment.  May I move forward with a renewed dedication to being a father like this…