Fatherhood

By Jeff Becraft

Years ago, a chaplain in a prison made an offer to those incarcerated that anyone who wanted to send a Mother’s Day card to their mom, he would provide the cards for them. It was an overwhelming success. It was so successful that a month later he tried it again for Father’s Day.

Not a single person came to get a card.

It goes to show the impact that a father can have on a family and a person’s life, either positively or negatively… and why fathers are so important.

One of my friends is a guy named Arthur. I met Arthur through my Dad. When my Mom developed Alzheimer’s, it was a difficult time and my Dad became part of a Monday night men’s group. The leader of that group was Arthur.

My Dad would tell me about Arthur. During COVID, the group moved to online and I joined the group as well to help out my Dad with the process. I have stayed involved with the group ever since.

Arthur is one of the best group leaders I have ever met.

One time when Dad was in the hospital and I had driven up to Maryland, I met Arthur for the first time… at the hospital. I walked in and there’s Arthur visiting with my Dad. Arthur was famous in the Becraft family because my Dad talked about him all the time.

While standing there in the hospital room, Arthur said to me, “Your Dad showed me that it was possible.” He went on, “He showed me that it was possible for a man to love God, to love his wife, and to love his family. I’d never seen that before in my life.”

I have no idea how old Arthur was when he met my Dad, but I am guessing he was somewhere in his 50’s… and Arthur said he had never seen it in his life.

Some of my friends had fathers who were cruel, abusive, violent, and/or absent. Despite the extreme pain that this has caused them, they have gone on to be loving and caring husbands and fathers in their own families. They have given to their own families what they never received.

The call for men is still the same… to love, to sacrifice, and to lay our lives down. That is what a true father is. For me, I was very fortunate and I did not have to look far to see that lived out – I saw it in my Dad.

For all fathers out there, let’s live out a life of love, respect, and caring… today and all days.

Jeff Becraft is the Director of Our Place of Hope located in Columbia, South Carolina, where people find encouragement to regain meaning, purpose, and hope for their lives. Jeff has dedicated much of his life to helping shift the vision of people’s lives. If you would like Jeff to speak to your group or event, you can connect with him at  [email protected].