Fathers, do not exasperate your children… (Ephesians 6:4)

Awww…but that’s the best part!

When I think of the word exasperate, I think of lovely evenings around the table making bad jokes and doing silly voices and causing my daughter such embarrassment–even when it’s just the four of us–that she threatens to leave the state and change her name, if not her heritage.

Good times, though now that she’s 21 it’s a less empty threat than it used to be.

Does Paul call me to give that up? No, that’s pure joy right there. I believe Paul is more concerned with a misuse of power. Your children have been called to obey you–that doesn’t make them your slaves. Nor does it make them You 2.0, with the responsibility of living the life you never lived and achieving the things you never achieved. They are people, no matter what their rooms look like, and you are called to guide them, not to shove them, through life.

But that in no way precludes Dad jokes. I’m sure that there’s Scripture to back that up; until I find it, just trust me.

Happy Thursday, Beloved