Father, Dad, Daddy, Papa- no matter what you call him, Dads are an important member of any family. Children need suitable role models to show them how to grow and mature. Studies show that an active, nurturing and involved father plays a crucial role in a child's life.
Hinterland Baptist Church is taking the opportunity to focus on some of the fathers in our church family. We know there are countless days throughout the year when their influence and love make a difference- so many times when, in word or action, they point us to our ultimate Father. So we thought you might be interested to learn a bit more about some of these special fathers.
So, let me introduce ......
Chris Arrington
How many pairs of New Balance shoes or Skechers do you own?
Zero
What is the best pattern to mow your lawn in?
Alternating straight lines
What was your father like?
My dad is my best friend. He was always a very impatient teacher but a very good teacher. My dad is one of those guys who can do anything. He can do mechanics, he can do electrical, he can do carpentry, he can drive - he can just do everything.
We’re very much the same person so that’s very frustrating sometimes, too. Dad’s always been very compassionate, but tough as well. Dad has high expectations of people and always wanted the best for us. He’s awesome. My dad is just great. My heroes are all Js - John Wayne, John Cash, Jesus and Jimmy. They’re my four heroes. And the older I get the more I find I’m more and more just like him and that’s okay. It’s actually a good thing.
What has being a father taught you?
One is that I’m not as patient that I thought I was and two, would be to slow down. It’s a hard balance between working enough to give what you want and not working so much to enjoy what you have.
When your kids are grown, what would you like them to remember most about you?
I can probably think of the things more easily that I don’t want to be remembered for. Losing my temper sometimes… like when you know you shouldn’t, but I hope they can look back and say that I’ve been as good of a father as my dad was. That when they get old enough to actually understand it and appreciate it, I hope they realise that I’ve done a good job of teaching them and to be godly men.
What is your biggest challenge as a parent and how can we pray for you?
I think honestly, the biggest challenge is remembering that they’re just kids and that they’re going to be different every day and that what’s effective one day, or one week, or one month, isn’t effective the next. It’s so dynamic. Particularly when I was travelling a lot, you’d miss a couple of days, so you’d miss sometimes what happened at home in that couple of days and that you’d come home expecting to parent like you had two days ago and all of a sudden that’s not effective anymore.
Or you’d miss something important while you’ve been at work, you’d miss some argument or disagreement or good thing that happened in the course of the day that you should have taken into consideration when you applied discipline, or praise where you maybe shouldn’t have when you get home.
To me, that’s the hardest part. You can’t always be there and then time to realise that they are just kids. You’ve got to give them grace because you’ve got to realise that you’re not there all the time to actually even understand everything. You don’t have all the pieces of the puzzle that you wish you had.
Easton Arrington
How old is your dad?
48
What is your dad’s favourite food?
Burgers and pizza
What makes your dad laugh?
When I say ‘How do you make a tissue dance? Put a little boogie in it.’
If your dad was a superhero, who would he be?
He’s actually Hulk. He has the big muscles and he can nearly smash a person through a wall.
(A big 'thank you' goes to our HBC interview team- Amy Gallez & Christine Miller, photographer)
