Fathers – necessary for their child’s foundation

By Anna-Maria Williams

I don’t know if you’ve seen the recent online trends, particularly, with wives recording their husbands, laughing or smiling while playing with their children, with a caption reading something like, “I knew I made the right decision when I married this one,” or, “this man is healing all my childhood wounds, and he doesn’t even know it.”

One thing is clear – who you choose to marry and father your children impacts your life.

Fatherhood is a call to love and responsibility. From the moment of conception in the womb, both the man and woman become a mother and father who have responsibility to care for, nurture and protect their newly created life.

Modern-day culture tells us the lie that life in the womb is inconsequential, especially when the parents are young. Children are a gift from God, and He entrusts them into our care. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) posits that “Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the good of the parents themselves.” (#1652-372, CCC)

A father has the unique role of instilling values, encouraging discipline, mirroring God-like love between himself and his spouse and most importantly, teaching his children what it means to be a God-fearing man in this world.

Primarily, parents are “the principal and first educators of their children” (#1653, CCC). They construct what love looks like for their children. Fathers are specifically necessary and important for the familial foundation.

Girls learn how men should love and treat them based on their fathers’ actions. Throughout their developmental years, girls also view their dads as heroes. Though this idea changes during the pubescent years, girls still need to know they can trust and depend on their dad to love, protect, guide, and lead them.

Retrospectively, boys learn how to treat a woman by witnessing the interactions between their father and mother. Husbands are called to love their “wives as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her” (Eph 5:25). Boys also learn how to manage and control their emotions from their fathers. A father’s presence impacts the psychological environment for everyone within a home.

Traditionally, we understand that men protect and provide for their families. This remains an important tenant of Catholic family life, even though the waves of feminism have encouraged women into the world of work.

Many families are also two-income; thus, fathers must provide additional support and care for the household duties. A father’s involvement in faith remains paramount; with his generous stewardship, the rest of the family follows.

More and more, we need men to be effective bedrocks for their families by being financially, spiritually, and emotionally stable.

Undeniably, many households are operated by courageous women who have to be both mother and father figures. In good faith, one cannot deny the strength of any single mother who willingly sacrifices for her children daily.

This reality is a call to action to encourage future husbands and fathers to prepare for the responsibility of their future children. Parents today need to teach their sons about the value of family life, sacrificial love, and the importance of masculinity in the home.

A solid foundation for fathers and husbands to appreciate the value of family life is the Billings Ovulation Method. This method is love and, it teaches men how to value and respect the woman’s body.

Happy Father’s Day to all the great dads who women can confidently say, “I made the right decision with this one.”

BOMA-TT Phone or WhatsApp: 384-1659, Email: naturalfertility@catholictt.org or billingstt@gmail.com, Local Website: billingstt.com, International Websites: woombinternational.org or billings.life