ON TUESDAY OF last week an electrical storm passed over Vicksburg…

Lightning struck and peeled the bark off an oak tree in the side yard.  The charge went down and killed our basset hound, Samson.  Our children took it as you might expect.

Hannah had asked to see Samson before I buried him.  I decided that seeing him would help her deal with the loss, and it did.  As I was covering him, she placed a clod of dirt over his body and asked if doing so would hurt him.  I told her that he no longer felt any pain.  Then, she turned her attention from the dog to me and asked, “Daddy, if I died, would you be sad for me?”

Oh, how easy it is to pull on Daddy’s heartstrings.  I didn’t have to think hard for the reason for that question.  She wanted and needed the assurance that Daddy still truly loves his little girl.

The Bible teaches in Ephesians 6:4, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”  As a father, I cannot imagine giving my children everything there is to give in this life — food, clothing, shelter, love, affection, discipline, laughter, and fun — but then, in turn, neglect to teach them how much God loves them and how much they should love God.  How could I not teach them everything we do as a family is centered on God and His Son Jesus Christ?  How could I not teach them about God the Father and Son, who are revealed to us in the Bible, and how that we ought to attend to worship instead of going to a ballgame?  How could I not teach them about burying the family pet?  And how could I not teach them about how to react when life throws them a curve ball?

Dad, will your reassure your children that you love them?  Will you rededicate your life to being the example for them as you follow YOUR Heavenly Father?

“Daddy, would you be sad for me?”  The answer is beyond expression.

“A righteous man has regard for the life of his animal…”  Proverbs 12:10a

Mike Benson