One of the rules I’ve learned the hard way is to not charge your mp3 player at your sister’s house.  The reason is simple: all of her music ends up on your machine.  So after spending several minutes deleting multiple country musicians and every album released by the Backstreet Boys, I stumbled across a song that I not only wanted to keep, but one that made me revisit some things in my life.

Steven Curtis Chapman’s 2007 album entitled This Moment features a song called Cinderella.  It is inspired by an evening that Chapman spent with two of his daughters where his focus was on many other things in his life besides being a father to them.  The song tells the story of what God spoke to him about taking the time to listen, to play, to mentor, and to love the girls God gave him to raise.  Our world places a premium on fathers as providers.  I’m not saying that I disagree with the statement.  It is important for dads to earn salaries and have insurance.  But as many families in today’s modern times have shown, provision is not gender dependant.  Moms have the same abilities to make money.  In fact, mothers have shown the ability to do a great many more things than had been previously thought.  However, there is one thing that the most skilled and capable mother will never be able to do – be a father. 

It is unfortunate how many children are growing up fatherless, and even more unfortunate when you realize that many of those children live with their dad.  In Ephesians 6:4, Paul reminds us of the importance of our role as fathers when he says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  We have so much to offer to our children through our presence, our interaction, and the love for our children that God has birthed inside every man He has chosen to be a Father.  So dance with Cinderella, swim with Nemo, shoot baskets with the next Michael Jordan, and help your young Picasso color inside the lines.  You’ll savor the memories of the times you’ve shared for the rest of your life.  They’ll share those memories for generations to come.

Watch Steven Curtis Chapman’s video for Cinderella, and hear him tell the story of what inspired him to write the song…  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLYxtuC0oRk