More From Lisa Stackpole

As you can tell from today’s devotional, my father had quite an influence on me. As a matter of fact, while I’ve written devotionals on diverse topics ranging from my eye surgery to pothole repairs, Dad often finds his way onto my pages. I wrote a previous devotion concerning him that The Upper Room published in November 2022, and I’m working on another one now, which I’ll be submitting for consideration before too long.

My mother passed away when I was in my late teens after four years of illness, so I didn’t have the opportunity to get to know her as well as I did Dad—something that I regret. Dad outlived her by 27 years, during which time our relationship steadily grew.

I have been involved for decades in prison ministry, both as a professional and, since my retirement, as a volunteer. I know that many men and women who are incarcerated have had rocky relationships with their fathers, if they even had a relationship with them. I have to be careful, when leading a prison Bible study, to be conscious of that. To many, hearing about a “heavenly Father” may not conjure up something desirable, but rather a larger-than-life version of the man that hurt or abandoned them or their family unless I lay the proper groundwork. And yet I believe that everyone wants to have a relationship with a loving father figure, and once they understand that our heavenly Father is perfect and loves them unconditionally, I see a growing hunger for that in their lives.

Dad wasn’t perfect. And yet his calm, steady, unwavering love for me, my siblings, and my mother made it easy for me to believe that there is a God in heaven who does love me like Dad did, but even more. I find it easy to believe that God loves us so much that he sent his Son to die for us because I have seen selfless love reflected in my dad—and for that I am eternally thankful.