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A SUPER TRIBUTE AT THE SUPER BOWL
The Super Bowl tribute I am referring to is not the halftime performance of Prince. I am referring to Coach Tony Dungy’s expressed gratitude to God! It is wonderful for such a public figure to publicly acknowledge our heavenly Father’s help in the processes of life and then to thank Him for it. But, such acknowledgements are typical for Coach Dungy.
Faith, fatherhood, and family are important to Tony Dungy. He recently was involved in a public service announcement for All Pro Dad. It is the fatherhood program of Family First, a non-profit organization with a national influence based in Tampa, where Dungy used to coach. He has been a great champion of fathers and their kids for years. Each year, at the Indianapolis Colt’s Training Facility he hosts an event with dads and their children at center stage. Part of the yearly activities includes Dungy talking to dads about “10 Ways to Be an All Pro Dad.”
Here are the ten things he advises dads to do. 1. Love your wife. 2. Spend time with your children. 3. Be a role model. 4. Understand your children. 5. Show affection. 6. Enjoy your children. 7. Eat together as a family. 8. Discipline with a gentle spirit. 9. Pray and worship together. 10. Realize you’re a father forever. And, Dungy has practiced what he preaches.
In Matthew 6:9, Jesus taught his disciples, “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’...” In Ephesians 6:2 and 4 Paul partly said, “Honor your father and mother” and “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” It seems very likely to me that Coach Dungy must have read and had respect for these verses and others like them enough to make them part of every aspect of his life. Both honoring fatherhood and our heavenly Father are great characteristics to develop. Coach Dungy’s public tribute shows that he has developed both.
Ronaldo Ricardo Guzmán
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