A group of 21 Dads and their sons spending an entire day together. Breakfast … a long car ride across the state to Detroit … great seats at the Detroit Tigers game (watching them beat up on the Orioles) … a quick stop at Kensington Park to play our own version of baseball (the sons beat the Dads 17-to-16.8 because of our creative rules!) … a dip in the lake … Jimmy John’s subs before hitting the road … and another long trip home. All total, more than 14 hours of memories.
I love it!
As Dads, we want to pass on a full bucket to our sons. It’s how we translate our heritage into their legacy.
How do I fill my bucket? God gave this command, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” It’s my responsibility to learn to love God with all I am and in all I do. I pursue God as I…
- worship
- pray
- study
- read
- sweat
- laugh
- cry
- play
That pursuit of God as my everything fills my bucket. Then the very next instruction God gives is this: “Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.”
How do I do this? Simply add together to my personal pursuit of God. Together with my sons and these other Dads and sons we…
- worship together
- pray together
- study together
- read together
- sweat together
- laugh together
- cry together
- play together
We started the day together under the shadow of the big tiger outside Comerica Park. We ended the day under the shadow of the Jimmy John’s restaurant as we prayed for one another. Dads and sons, together pursuing God.
Yesterday we Dads passed on a full bucket to our sons. Today we’re filling our buckets again so we can pass it on again.
Craig T. Owens 