WALK A LITTLE SLOWER, DADDY

"Walk a Little slower, Daddy," said a little child so small.

I'm following in your footsteps and I don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometimes they're hard to see;

So walk a little slower Daddy, for you are leading me.

Someday when I'm all grown up, you're what I want to be.

Then I will have a little child who'll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right, and know that I was true;

So, walk a little slower, Daddy, for I must follow you!

- Unknown

YOU'VE BEEN EVERYTHING TO ME

You've been everything to me: a father,

Teacher, playmate, model, conscience, friend.

Sometimes I'm not certain why you bother,

If your feelings on my words depend.

I know I haven't been the child I should:

Far from it, and I really can't say why.

I know exactly what I'd label good,

But in the real world something goes awry.

Underneath my actions there is love,

Gratitude, respect, and admiration.

Sometimes I don't know what I'm thinking of,

But I thank God you're in for the duration.

I'm sorry, sorry for the things I do,

But please believe I cherish Mom and you.

- Unknown

DAD

We may not shower him with praise

Nor mention his name in song,

And sometimes it seems that we forget

The joy he spreads as he goes along,

But it doesn’t mean that we don’t know

The wonderful role that he has had.

And away down deep in every heart

There’s a place that is just for Dad.....

 - Unknown

A FATHER'S WISH

I may fail to be as clever as my neighbor down the street,

I may fail to be as wealthy as some other men I meet,

I may never win the glory which a lot of men have had,

But I've got to be successful as a little fellow's dad.

There are certain dreams I cherish which I'd like to see some true,

There are things I would accomplish when my time of life is through,

But the task my heart is on is to guide a little lad

And to make myself successful as that little fellow's dad.

I may never come to glory, I may never gather gold,

Men may list me with the failures when my business life is told,

But if he who follows after shall be manly, I'll be glad,

For I'll know I've been successful as that little fellow's dad.

It's the one job that I dream of, it's the task I think of most,

If I fail that growing youngster, I'd have nothing else to boast;

For though wealth and fame I'd gathered, all my future would be sad...

If I failed to be successful as that little fellow's dad.

- Unknown

25 INSPIRING FATHER'S DAY QUOTES

Once, God gave me the greatest gift ever. I call that gift: Dad || Kurt Avish

A good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society || Billy Graham

One night a father overheard his son pray: “Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is!” Later that night, the Father prayed, “Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be” || Unknown

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong || Charles Wadsworth

              

The father who loves his children will not substitute toys for time, replace commendation

with condemnation but will be their teacher not taskmaster || R. Robert Flatt

An effective father devotes himself to become an instrument and model of human experience to his children...accepts and affirms his children for who they are, appreciates them for what they are accomplishing, and covers them with affection because they are his || Gordon MacDonald

To be in your children's memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today || Barbara Johnson

 A father is a fellow who has replaced the currency in his wallet with the snapshots of his kids || Unknown

When God measures a man, He puts the tape around the heart instead of the head || Unknown

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person: He believed in me || Jim Valvano

The test of man's faith is not in what he believes but what manner of man, what manner of husband and what manner of father he becomes as a result || R. Robert Flatt

                                                                              

It is a wise father that knows his own child || William Shakespeare

The footsteps a child follows are most likely to be the ones his parents thought they had covered up || Unknown

A father is a banker provided by nature || Proverb

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard.

Mother would come out and say, 'You’re tearing up the grass.'

'We’re not raising grass,' Dad would reply. 'We’re raising boys.'

|| Harmon Killebrew

A man knows he is growing old because he begins to look like his father || Gabriel Garcia Marquez

              

My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening || Alice Roosevelt Longworth

My Dad is a mender of toys, a leader of boys; changer of fuses,

a healer of bruises; a mover of couches, a healer of ouches;

a hanger of screens, a counselor of teens; a pounder of nails,

a teller of tales; a dryer of dishes, a fulfiller of wishes.

|| JoAnn Heid

              

One father is enough to govern one hundred sons, but not a hundred sons one father || George Herbert

              

A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again || Enid Bagnold

It is a wise child that knows his own father || Homer

                                                                               

There is no principle of parental government more important than that a father should command his own temper when he inflicts punishment. He should punish a child not because he is angry, but because it is right; not because it has become a matter of personal contest, but because God requires that he should do it, and the welfare of the child demands it || Albert Barnes

A father's words are like a thermostat that sets the temperature in the house || Paul Lewis

Honour thy father and thy mother' stands written among the three laws of most revered righteousness || Aeschylus

Every mother generally hopes that her daughter will snag a better husband than she managed to do...but she's certain that her boy will never get as great a wife as his father did || Anonymous

FATHER'S DAY: WITH GRATITUDE

There remaineth...a rest to the people of God || Heb 4:9
Sumzadong Vaiphei
1927 - 4 March 2012

A hundred years from now,

The thoughts would still be,

As fresh and truer still,

And I know this would never do,

But at least it is the beginning, dear father!

You may not have been the richest father,

But your love and concern was overflowing with richness!

You may not have been the wisest father,

But your thoughts and guidance were the best for me!

You may not have been the worldly ideal type,

But you were the ideal father for me!

I remember my tender young days,

When you hold me in your strong hands,

And we went to pick my tooth at the hospital,

Though it was painful,

I knew I would be okay because you were there with me.

When the school bells rang for the first time,

You were there with me,

In the hallowed halls of that big structure,

To assure me that it was okay to be awed and amazed!

Oh, dad! How time flies!

When I was ready to start a new life of my own,

You were there standing beside me,

Welcoming your "daughter" into our home,

With arms wide open and blessings on your lips.

When we were ready to welcome my first angel,

You were never far away.

Always a ready hand out-stretched,

More like a friend than a father!

Whenever life's difficulties and obstacles

Rose to unchain the melody of life,

You were always there, saying,

"Son, it is time to move on!"

And when God called you home,

I knew that the road ahead,

Would be much more difficult

Without you - your wisdom and guidance.

But deep inside me,

In the deepest senses of my being,

I know that you'll be with me, always,

Assuring, leading and guiding me!

Though the paths be difficult,

And the climb steep,

You will be egging me on,

As I take small faltering steps.

Dad, as I look back on the life that you lived,

So abundantly and so fully,

I'm so full of gratitude,

For being my father and making me your son!

Thanks, dad!

I'll forever remain grateful,

For making me, me!

And this song is for us both, dad-

There is a paradise of rest

On yonder tranquil shore,

Beyond the shadow and the gloom of night,

Where toil and tears are o’er.

Meet me there, oh, meet me there,

At the dawning of that morning bright and fair;

Meet me there, oh, meet me there,

In the land beyond the river meet me there.

There is a city crowned with light,

Its joy no tongue can tell;

For they who enter shall behold the King,

And in His presence dwell.

There is a crown laid up on high

That Christ the Lord will give

To those who patiently His coming wait,

And for His glory live.

Oh, then be faithful unto death,

Press on the heavenly way,

That we may enter through the gates of life

To realms of endless day.

------------------------------

Composer: Fanny Crosby || Some hymnals show the author as W.R. Lindsay, one of Fanny's pseudonyms

Music: Ira D. Sankey

FATHER'S DAY - A SHORT HISTORY

The men in our lives - they are always there, in the background – with a shoulder to lean on and a steady love that is too often taken for granted. Once each year, on the third Sunday in June, there is a chance to remind fathers, and the men who step in when fathers are not available, that all of their quiet efforts are appreciated.

You may think that Father's Day is a modern invention, but the truth is that a Babylonian youth named Elmesu carved the first known Father's Day card in clay nearly 4,000 years ago. His special message wished his father good health and a long life. Fortunately, modern cards are a bit easier to fit in the mail box!

Mother's Day and William Jackson Smart of Spokane, Washington were the inspiration for an official day to celebrate Father’s Day in the United States.

Mr. Smart was a widower who raised his six children after his wife died giving birth to the youngest. He was a single parent for 21 years. This may not seem amazing in the 21st century, but in the 1800s it was unheard of for a man to raise children alone...and even today being a single parent of six young children is heroic!

Smart’s daughter, Mrs. Sonora Smart-Dodd (Mrs. John Bruce Dodd), got the idea for Father’s Day in 1909 while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at her church. She encouraged local churches to institute a Father's Day observance the following year on a Sunday in June, the month of her father’s birthday. Through her efforts, interest in the celebration of Father’s Day grew and spread to other cities, states and countries. She also encouraged wearing roses on Father's Day in honor of fathers. A red rose was worn for fathers who were still living and a white rose honored fathers who had died.

Many congressional resolutions proclaiming a national Father’s Day in the United States were introduced through the years. President Lyndon B. Johnson recognized the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day with a presidential proclamation in 1966, but the holiday was not really made permanent until 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed a presidential resolution that made the third Sunday in June officially Father’s Day in the United States.

Most people around the world celebrate Father's Day, but the dates to honor dads are not the same everywhere. In many countries the customs and traditions may be very different than the ones you know.

The earliest record of Father's Day was found in the ruins of Babylon. A young boy named Elmesu carved a Father's Day message on a card made out of clay nearly 4,000 years ago. He wished his Babylonian father good health and a long life.

No one knows what happened to Elmesu or his father, but the tradition of having a special day honoring fathers has continued through the years in countries all around the world.