Father’s Day isn’t just for buying the proverbial tie and calling it a day. It honors fathers– and men who have filled the shoes of a father–to help change a child’s life for the better. Studies today affirm that an involved dad plays a vital role in the general health and well-being of children. Child welfare reports have found that an active and nurturing style of fathering is associated with “better verbal skills, intellectual functioning, and academic achievement among adolescents.”

Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart raised his six children as a single parent. After hearing a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909, Smart’s daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd, told her pastor that fathers should have a similar holiday honoring them.  She got the ball rolling, but it wasn’t until 1972 that the third Sunday in June was officially declared a national holiday for fathers by President Nixon.

The following is an interview with my friend, Ben Gladden, who has often contributed to this site as a guest blogger. Ben has spent the last three years as a stay-at-home dad for his three kids, while his wife works full-time as a lawyer.  I wanted to know how he keeps it all together, including taking care of himself. The driving force for his parenting? Spiritual principles he’s learned from the Bible and his practice of Christian Science. Continue reading →