Christmas is over, yet one movie continually lives on in my heart.  “It’s a Wonderful Life “ is by far my favorite movie.  And the older I get the more I identify with the main character, George Bailey, played by the late Jimmy Stewart. You see, George had the goal of living a life of adventure.  Here is George’s dream: “I’m shakin’ the dust off this crummy little town off my feet and I’m going to see the world. Italy, Greece, the Parthenon, the Colosseum. Then, I’m comin’ back to go to college and see what they know. And then I’m, gonna build things. I’m gonna build airfields, I’m gonna build skyscrapers a hundred stories high, I’m gonna build bridges a mile long…” (“It’s a Wonderful Life”)

George had dreams. He had a story he desired to live.  But, like so many good stories, a conflict occurred. Unexpectedly, his father died and George faced a fork in the road for his life. He could leave Bedford Falls and chase his dream or “settle” for running the family business, the Building and Loan company and thus protect the town from the control of the story’s antagonist, old Mr. Potter.  

Most of George’s friends have graduated from college and are living the “good life” while George is stuck in his little old town barely able to make ends meet.  I relate to George’s feeling of insignificance. I have been in full-time vocational work my entire adult life. I do not have a second home or notoriety or a bunch of extra cash in my checking account and at times I wonder, is this all there is in life.  But the climax of this movie occurs at the very end. George was given a gift to see what the world would have been like if he had never been born. And George realized that he has in fact had a wonderful life. Not an extravagant life. But a life characterized by small decisions that intersected the lives of countless other people. George invested in people. He invested in that which is eternal.  

A direct connection to our lives as fathers exists in this iconic movie. In the United States, nearly 40% of children live away from their fathers. The consequences of this fatherlessness is observed in countless unhealthy ways in our culture. Watch the news and you will observe the results of absent fathers.  But you, father, have an opportunity to invest in your sons and daughters. In fact, this opportunity never ceases. Whether your child is 3 months old or thirty years old, your child longs for involvement from you.  You have an opportunity to invest in your kids.  You can relate to them. You can be a relational father.  This does not require money. It takes time.  It requires an awareness to move towards your child relationally. You can live a “Wonderful Life” through the investment in people. And the most significant people in your life are your children. Perhaps some of us need to die to ourselves and resist the pull to spend another hour at the office. So, like George Bailey, we can live a Wonderful Life!