“Nistetter. What kind of name is that? No one knows how to pronounce it.”

Throughout my childhood, my Daddy would remind us what kind of name that was. We were Nistetters, and we were held to a higher standard because of our name.

He loved us so much that, like our Father in heaven, he called us to excellence, even though we wanted to slump sometimes. He called us to stretch ourselves.

“I think I can. I think I can. I can. I can. I can!” This was my growing up mantra.

Do you remember the story? A little train engine was asked to haul a load up a steep mountain, a bigger load than the engine was built to pull. Yet, that little engine tugged that load up the mountain – repeating “I think I can” until it reached the mountaintop.

Daddy taught us kids many things. The one I’m celebrating today is that we were special. We were Nistetters! We were called to represent the Nistetters well.

You and I are special to our Father in heaven. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are called a child of God. Why? Because God loves us. We are God’s sons and daughters.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1a

And as children of God, we are also called to excellence, ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). How are you representing God?

Let’s celebrate our earthly fathers and our heavenly Father today.

Happy Father’s Day!

My prayer:

Our heavenly Father, thank You that You loved us so much that You sent Jesus into the world to pay the price we owed for our sins, so that we could be called Your children. Thank You for giving us earthly fathers to love on us, to teach us, and to show us how special we are in their sight and in Your sight. Bless all the fathers today and their families. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Please share your special memories of your father in the comments section.