正如我天上的父（上帝）把他的精神降临到我的身上那样，我希望自己是天父的使者，把他的精神传递到我地上的父亲身上。我的父亲虽然不是基督徒，但是他也相信有个神灵在他的心灵深处。就在最近，我们两人之间有一场谈话，就讲到了上帝，天堂和传福音。虽然他没有直接说出来，但是他很困惑，不知道为何我的妈妈总是鼓励他去认识主耶稣。我简单地回答了他的疑惑：“因为妈妈爱你，她希望永远陪伴在你的身边。”我就是这样理解的。

     不管是过去还是现在，我的父亲都是在创造历史。我能感受到他正在做一件有价值的事情。当我回顾过去的生活，还有那些忧郁孤独的夜晚，我开始理解父亲所做的都是正确的，或许他自己都不知道他已经小有成就。他不仅在创业的艰难中证明了“我是谁”的自我价值，同时，他潜移默化地把我放进了上帝的计划之中，即上帝也在为我规划人生。

　　我的父亲，我的爸爸，他追求着他的梦想，规划着伟大的人生，同时，他也为我以后的人生树立了目标。让我引用我父亲的话：“儿子，你以后会比我成功.相比我和你这样的年龄，你比我更有潜力。”我不知道你是否还记得说过这样的话，爸爸，但是我就是照你的话去那么做的。不远的将来，我将走进大学生活，我会把你的信念作为我的榜样，同时，我也会遵照天父的话去行事：“享受我们的痛苦吧，因为我们知道，这种痛苦会产生毅力，而毅力会产生性格，而性格会产生希望。”

　　爸爸，我很感谢你带给我的磨练，尽管这听起来有些莫名其妙不合时宜，但是你确实塑造了我的人生，让我至今都感念在心。在明天，六月二十日这一天，我无法带给你特殊的荣耀，那是因为你每天都在我心中得到爱戴。

Father’s Day

  Written by Kevin Chen

   Father’s Day is indeed a “Hallmark holiday”: a day for the Hallmark Company and other companies to make profit from a seemingly innocent day of fatherly love. Now Father’s Day is not a bad day, but it should be celebrated every day. Everybody has a father, whether they like it or not. In my case, I liked and still like it.

   My father and I grew up together, getting to know each other well, but not well enough. My father went to China to start his own business, to pursue his dreams, when I was still very young. For me, it was hard to take in. At first, I thought it would not be too long and complicated; my father will return permanently in a matter of years, right? Wrong, he is still in China today.

   Now I would have been fine with this since he left to the coming future, but issues and family events conjured up feelings for my dad I never knew I could feel before. I truly missed his presence at a time, and needed his fatherly wisdom. It was a tough time for not only me, but my sister and mom. 

   It was when my sister and I were in middle school, and middle school is a place I would like to leave behind me. I wish my sister thinks the same. The events unrolled almost effortlessly, and I could not stop them. I ran to my father for wisdom, for knowledge, for help. Countless minutes and days wasted over sad and tearful conversations over the phone; I knew it was going to be my battle to fight.

   I never really doubted my father’s unique sense of humor and wisdom. He would always speak to his kids as if he were teaching us, albeit sometimes it was uncomfortable for my sister and I and at times mind numbingly boring. But he would always speak with purpose. There were rare times he would say things as if to appeal to his children and show his “young” side to us, as if he had a regretful want to make up for his lost years with his children. I did not know this during the nights over the phone, but now I see that he has the same feelings of loss and affection towards his children as we have had towards him.

   My father is very intelligent. Growing up in China, he went to the prestigious Nanjing University from a pool of hundreds of children in the county side of Ha me. And even though he is addressed as doctor and owns his own company, I always have something to teach him as his teaches me. The conversations we’ve had and will have are always bright, thick, and unruly conversations. Sometimes we would become so heated, and my mom would sit with us at lunch, silently watching the sparks fly between my father and me. 

   I learned a lot of small morals, techniques, and his point of views on politics and science and the world. But religion would be my forte.

   As my heavenly Father sends His spirit down on me, I feel as if I am His messenger towards my earthly father. My dad does not look and go through his day as if were religious, but God is always in the back of his mind. Just recently, we had a conversation about God, heaven, and evangelism. He wondered why, although he did not say directly, why my mom keeps trying to get him to know the Lord. I answered simply, “Because she loves you, and wants to spend eternity with you”, not knowing that I would think the same later.

   As did my dad make and is still making history, I feel as if he’s doing me justice too. As I look back on my life and the melancholy nights, I feel that he did the right thing, although he did not know what he has done quite well yet. Not only has he set off incredible situations that have shaped who I am, but he has probably single handedly put me in God’s plan for me.

   My father, my Dad, did the right thing. He pursued his dreams and is in the process of becoming a great man, but he has also set me up for later success. I quote my father, “You will be more successful than me someday, son. You have so much more potential than I did when I was your age.” I don’t know if you remember yourself saying it, Dad, but that’s how I took it. And as I am about to go to college, and I will look at what you’ve done, Dad, and what my heavenly Father says, " ... rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope." 

   Dad, I thank you for the suffering, even though that sounds out of place, but you truly have shaped my life, and I’m enjoying it so far. I won’t give you any special honor tomorrow, June 20, 2010, because every day you deserve that honor.

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　注：这是一篇我要求儿子写给父亲节的作文。孩子写得比较长，我摘录其中的片段，并作了简单的翻译。

　　　父亲节的前几天，我对孩子们说：你们已经长大了，对于你们的父亲应该有自己的认识。希望你们写一篇关于父亲的文章，字数、题材和风格都没有限制。目的是想让孩子他爹了解到，这么多年的分离，他在孩子心目中真正的含义。

　　　孩子他爹，远在大洋的彼岸，我们天各一方。我也遥祝你：节日快乐，父亲节快乐。