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There is praise for the man who goes out into space
     To challenge a frontier unknown;
There is praise for the man who sets out with a goal
     To reach the North Pole on his own;
There is praise for the man who seeks riches and wealth
     To the uttermost ends of the earth;
But, where is the praise for the family man
     Who puts coals on his family’s hearth?
A hero is someone who goes out into the fight
     To perform the ultimate deed;
A hero is someone who answers the call
     Whenever his country is in need;
A hero is the champion who comes galloping forth
     Whenever the downtrodden plead;
But, the real hero’s the one who keeps plodding along
     Because he has children to feed.
The world always has time for the gallant, it seems
     Whose thirst for adventure assuage;
They worship the star whose immaculate face
     Appears daily on every front page;
They devour every word, every scrap of verbiage
     From the present most popular sage;
But none ever considers the family man
     Who works hard for his menial wage.
My father was never the shining white knight
     Who responded to each such occasion;
Who was always out there in full battle gear
     When an enemy threatened invasion;
But, the “home front” was where all his battles were fought
     And, therein lay his patriotic persuasion;
He strove on till he died, teaching us to survive
     To be part of the real strength and backbone of our nation.

Article from the June 2007 issue of Virtual Christian Magazine.
Source URL: http://vcmagazine.org/article.aspx?volume=9&issue=5&article=fatherhood
Copyright 2007 by United Church of God, an International Association  All rights reserved.