A Joshua Kind of Dad

My husband is a Joshua leader. Which is funny, because he also shares his name with Joshua from the Bible.

When I met Josh, he was not very versed in the Bible, and to be honest I was not either. But, I at least knew some basic Bible stories that my Josh did not. So when my husband dedicated his life to Jesus and began to serve more, he curiously asked me one night who the Joshua of the Bible was because he wanted to know the origins of his name. I still have the email I sent to him one day referencing this site. I told him that his name means "God Saves" and is related to the name Jesus (Yeshua-Joshua). But beyond that information, I still didnt really know what or who his name was a tribute to.

Funny, I have several things in my home that have this verse on them:

But as for me and my House, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

This year, as I've mentioned before, I studied the life of Moses in BSF. And here's what I know now of Joshua. Joshua was a young man who had enormous faith at an early age. He demonstrated courage against the crowd during a moment of truth before the first attempt at entering the promiseland. And though in his life he made mistakes, God continued to work in him. Because of his great faith and trust, God appointed Joshua as leader to the Israelites after Moses died. Great faith in God first, earns great responsibility and the priveledge to do great works.

This past weekend was Father's Day and I recieved a devotional that talks about having a Joshua 24:15 dad. And as I read it, I realized what a coincidence and blessing that I am married to a "Joshua man".

I'm so blessed that my Josh lives out similar principals to the Joshua of the Bible. He gives up many things in his life to trust in the Lord. He is patient with me and the girls when we're not easy to lead. He makes mistakes, certainly. But his priorities are fixed on God first, and himself later.
He is a model of the Joshua 24:15 verse, placing service and attendance in our church above other things in our house. He has turned down careers that take away from his time in serving the church, and our daughters have heard, "You are expected to attend church on Sunday, no excuses" more than once. His leadership is both godly and compassionate and he's not afraid to go against the crowd when it comes to popularity.

I sent Josh a note thanking him for being this kind of leader in our home.Have you thanked the Fathers in your life for being great leaders this week?

My own dad has a stone plaque in his office that has remained with him as long as I can remember. It says "Any man can be a dad, but it takes a great man to be a Father" Semantics aside, the quote speaks to the fact that it takes more than just a physically able body- to be a great leader to a family. It takes a man led by God to Father a family the way our heavenly Father does.

I love you Josh Harris and I'll follow if you promise to lead.
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