If we were to put a Father's Day sermon together the outline would probably go something like this:

1. Make family a priority. Don't spend more time at the job than you need to accumulate wealth at the expense of your family relationships. Also, seek your identity not as an individual, but as a member of your family. Your greatest investment should be in meeting your family's needs, not in fulfilling your own hopes and dreams. Sacrificing wealth and status for the good of your family is one of the most honorable things you'll ever do.

2. Just as your spouse expects you to adjust to her needs, you should adjust to hers. Marriage is not a 50/50 proposition, but 100/100, with each one giving totally to the relationship. Even if your spouse is negligent in doing her part, that doesn't mean you still shouldn't give your 100%. Both of you should be going above and beyond to make the other one happy in every area.

3. Fulfill your Scriptural role. In your Bible you'll find roles laid out for every member of your family. If each of you plays your part you'll have a relatively peaceful home, and the kids will end up well-adjusted and responsible, ready to raise quality families of their own.

Yes, the above is something like most Father's Day messages we've heard since way back. Mother's Day messages however are full of heart warming points on faith, Proverbs 31:, and love. But as I look around I'm wondering if it isn't time to direct a Father's Day message at some mothers?

I'm running into more and more homes that were broken up by mothers tired of raising children, simply abandoning their husbands to raise large families alone. I'm running into more and more women putting careers ahead of family. I'm encountering more single fathers raising children because the mothers were abusive, adulterous, financially irresponsible, or substance abusers. One I woman I know has left a trail of children in several states, showing minimal interest in any contact with them, and never sending the men raising them any finanical support. She's currently on her 4th or 5th marriage, marrying a man half her age from another country she met on the internet.

Whether it's the impact of feminism, the internet, or the workplace, I'm observing an increasing number of women getting caught up in the bad behaviors we associate with men. While I'm sure most female readers of this BB are not guilty of this, I'm sure there are those who are. Days like today are good times to examine our lives, and to seek the Lord while He may be found.

-- Anonymous, May 12, 2002