Guest post by Tammy Daughtry, founder of Co-Parenting International. Her new book, Co-Parenting Works! Helping Your Children Thrive After Divorce, is available now.

Many of us have grown up with a single father and/or a stepfather. I want to celebrate the important role these men have in the lives of children and to give a standing ovation to the men who stay in the game, year after year, and bring love and stability to the story of a child.

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One father I want to celebrate is my stepdad, John. When I was three my mom remarried and I enjoyed five years of love and laughter with John. We would watch TV together, play in the back yard, go to the local high school and play “crazy eights” at the basketball hoops and every Saturday he would cook me breakfast. My favorite breakfast always included extra, extra crispy bacon! He was a rock in my life and an anchor to my childhood. He believed in me and treated me like I was his own. He never tried to replace my dad, but he was another strong person to love me. Almost forty years later I am still being blessed by the role John plays in my life as my stepfather.

Another father I want to salute is the single father. There are single fathers across our country that have either lost a spouse in death or had their former wife walk out and leave them with the children. We don’t hear much good news about “great” single fathers and I want to lift them up and celebrate them! Imagine the tragedy of losing a beloved wife of twenty one years and to be suddenly faced with raising three children alone. Imagine the frustration of wanting to make a Christian marriage work but having no way to control the wife who walks out and refused to return, leaving not only a disillusioned husband but two beautiful brokenhearted young daughters.

I know many godly, stable, reliable, healthy single fathers who are raising well-adjusted and amazing kids. Single fathers and stepfathers are many times the unsung heroes in the life of a child. They are often over looked or unnoticed in our large bustling churches.

This father’s day I urge you to encourage and affirm the single fathers and stepfathers in your area of influence; remind them that their role is vital and important. Thank them for loving the children that God has placed in their care.

Can you share with us a celebration story of an amazing single father or a stepfather that has touched your life?

In what ways do you see single fathers and their families suffering from issues of isolation?

What ideas do you have to help a single-father family?