When we think about Father’s Day, there are a variety of memories attached to this annual observance for most of us. I have many memories tied to my years of fatherhood, and now that that role has rolled over into the grandfather phase, those events continue to stack up allowing me to add new memories to my journey of life.

Our youngest granddaughter, Addyson, has spent the first six years of her life adding a lot of excitement to my life and a lot of gray hairs to my head!

Shortly before Addy turned two and was ready to graduate from her crib, I bought her a new toddler bed. I knew I would have to put it together, but I was a bit surprised when I opened the box and discovered how many pieces and parts were there for me to assemble.

The process went well and the little bed started to take shape; I even commented to my daughter that it was going smoothly. But that was a premature assessment! When I got to the step where the slats that supported the mattress had to be attached to the side rails, progress came to an abrupt halt!! After wrestling with it for awhile and making several fatal attempts to get everything to go together as it was supposed to, I became so frustrated that I moved on to another method. I resorted to using the claw hammer!

If you imagined disaster on the way when I got out the hammer, you were wrong this time. After a few brisk whacks, all the slats were securely forced into place and in just a little while the project was all done and ready for little Addyson to try out her brand new bed, thanks to Papa.

Early the next morning when I peeked in to see how our little sleeping beauty had enjoyed her bed, I discovered that she was not in it. Instead, she was on her mother’s bed! After I had invested two hours of work and frustration into it, she was not even using the thing. It was not a very rewarding scene for my time, effort, and money.

For all of us—and maybe especially for dads–there are times when we sacrificially and wholeheartedly pour ourselves into some project or event with high hopes of it yielding measurable success, only to find that it all came to naught—or at least, so it appears at the moment. From the human perspective, those kinds of negative results are disappointing, and even disheartening. Nevertheless, in such circumstances we have to remind ourselves that what God really expects from us is faithfulness, since we cannot control the outcome of our endeavors.

Putting our heart into an effort does not guarantee that we will automatically receive the outcome that we hope for, but it does reward us with God’s favor. Proverbs 3:3-4 instructs us to “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man” (New International Version).

So dads, keep your head up, keep your heart full of love and faithfulness, and never waiver from the eternally important role that God has called you to. You cannot always make every detail work just right, but you can always trust God for the wisdom, strength, and guidance that you need in every circumstance of life.