I’ve been called lots of names.
Some them haven’t been nice. I remember a few from elementary school that produce a nostalgic sense of nausua.
I’ve been called good names, too.
My Pastor at Friend Church in Columbia, SC, Greg Dowey, used to call me “The Smartest Guy I Know”. Even thought it’s not true, it made me feel pretty good.
Once in a meeting of all the Student Pastors in our city (a gathering of a couple hundred young dudes with spiky hair, designer jeans, and flip flops), the leader called me “The Legend”. The name stuck a bit, mainly in how I referred to myself from that point on, but who cares, right?
I love it when my friends call me ‘Pastor’ and when my wife honors me as her ‘husband’, but the best name I’ve ever been called is “Da-da”.
Being a Dad is amazing.
I learned something early on about the difference between the jobs Moms get and the jobs Dads get, at least at the Simmons house.
Mom gets to feed most of the time. She washes our baby. When our little girl gets hurt, she goes straight for Mom.
Mom is a pretty great name to be called too.
Dads do other things.
Here’s one thing I didn’t anticipate…
Dad’s put stuff together.
Everything you buy for a child has to be assembled. Everything. It’s just absurd. With the size of some of these boxes you assume ‘This things ready to pull out and go…” but… nope. Assembly required.
And… everything you buy a child requires batteries. That’s a totally different discussion. Does Fischer Price own Energizer?
I put the crib together. A swing. A bouncy seat. A high chair. A glider-rocker. I put together a Diaper Genie.
It didn’t take long for me to understand: Dads put stuff together.
You know what?
I need to be put together some times. Hey… let’s be honest. ALL THE TIME.
I’m thankful that we have in Jesus a God who is willing to get involved in our mess and set us on a journey to put us back together.
Dads do put stuff together. That’s what the incarnation of Jesus screams to us: our Father did EVERYTHING to put back together what we broke. His brokenness can lead to our restoration.
The next time you open a box and feel a little overwhelmed by the bazillion pieces of absurdity waiting for your next three hours, be reminded that God saw us that way, got involved, and if you’ll let him… He’ll put you together.
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