A WORD FOR TODAY, June 19, 2026

[Peggy Hoppes]

We pray you are blessed by this daily devotion.

 

Blessings. Peg

www.awordfortoday.org

A WORD FOR TODAY, June 19, 2026

“He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.” Job 8:21

“I went to a silent auction. I won a dog whistle and two mimes.”

“I poured some water over a duck's back yesterday. I don't think he cared.”

“I'm such a good navigator, a self-driving car once asked me for directions.”

“What did the bison say to his son when he left the ranch? Bi-son.”

“Watch what you say around the egg whites. They can't take a yolk.”

If any, or all, these jokes made you groan, you aren’t alone. Dad jokes are meant to be terrible, but this is a very good thing. Studies have found the intentionally corny jokes often told by dads could strengthen family bonds.

Marc Hye-Knudsen wrote in a 2021 paper called “Dad Jokes and the Deep Roots of Fatherly Teasing: “Dad jokes, I argue, are a manifestation of the ancient fatherly impulse to tease one’s children. On the surface, dad jokes are puns that are characterized by only violating a pragmatic norm and nothing else, which makes them lame and unfunny. Only violating a pragmatic norm and nothing else, however, is itself a violation of the norms of joke-telling, which makes dad jokes a type of anti-humor. Fathers (i.e., “dads”) may in turn seek to embarrass their children by purposively violating the norms of joke-telling in this way, thus weaponizing the lame pun against their children as a type of good-natured teasing. Given their personality profile, it makes sense that fathers should be particularly prone to weaponize dad jokes teasingly against their children like this, with the phenomenon bearing an illuminating resemblance to the rough-and- tumble play that fathers have engaged their children in since before the dawn of our species.”

Dad jokes offer safe exposure to gentle embarrassment, building emotional resilience so that children can learn how to handle social awkwardness with confidence. They help child psychological development, establish boundaries for impulse control, and teach children that they can survive social embarrassment. Laughing together is good for a family, relational teasing helps bond a parent and child through shared, lighthearted experiences. The studies have shown that Dad jokes, the worse the better, create a positive emotional environment that fosters long term happiness and problem-solving skills. Even though these jokes make children roll their eyes, simple word play provokes positive feelings of amusement and elicits a cognitive response. These jokes become part of a child’s character, helping them mature with kindness, playfulness, and creativity. Humor, even eye-rolling humor, helps ease tension and build confidence. 

Sunday is Father’s Day, which began when a daughter realized as an adult what a selfless, giving man her father was. William Smart was a widowed father of six children. In 1909 his daughter proposed the idea of Father’s Day. Others around the country were also doing the same. The first Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, which was William Smart’s birth date, in Spokane Washington. In 1924 Calvin Coolidge supported the idea and proclaimed the third Sunday in June as a day to celebrate fathers. Congress recognized the holiday in 1956, and Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation in 1966. The holiday was officially established in 1972 by Richard Nixon. Perhaps William Smart’s daughter unconsciously realized how much the corny jokes of her father did for her life.

Jay Leno once said, “Mother’s Day is the biggest day for phone calls. Father’s Day is the biggest one for short phone calls. Son says, ‘Hi, Dad, Happy Father’s Day.’ ‘Thanks, Son. Here’s your mother,’ answers the dad.” Mothers get roses; fathers get to play football in the searing heat of summer. Mom gets a special dinner at a restaurant; Dad gets to grill hot dogs. Mothers get hugs and kisses, and Dads get attentive audiences rolling their eyes at his jokes.  

While not all fathers are loving, encouraging, supportive, strong, and intelligent, Sunday is a day for us to celebrate those who do their best to raise children to be strong, independent, happy, kind, playful, creative, etc. They give the children all they need in heart, soul, and spirit. Their faith has rubbed off on their children, and their children grow in their love of Jesus because of all they have done to support their faith. Even those jokes that cause us to roll our eyes are part of the good things our fathers do for us. 

Sunday is also a day we commemorate the life of a missionary, translator, and evangelist from Ethiopia. Onesimos Nesib was captured by slave traders, bought and sold several times until he was finally freed and educated by Swedish missionaries. His birth name was Hika, but he was given the name Nesib by his captors and then took on the name Onesimos when he became a Christian. It was an appropriate name for a slave set free by the Gospel, since the book of Philemon tells a similar story about a man name Onesimos. His original name, Hika, was appropriate also because it meant “translator” in his native language.

After he was educated and trained to be a missionary, Onesimos wanted to return to his native land to share the Gospel with the people. It was a difficult journey; it took many years and several tries before he could get through the politics of both secular and religious authorities. It didn”t help that travel was difficult, with poor weather, poor roads, and conflict. He was often given misinformation and his company of missionaries suffered from illness. They experienced so many roadblocks that Onesimos fell into deep despair at least once, giving up the mission. He pulled through each obstacle, finding other ways to share the Gospel in other places until he was finally able to make back to his home. With the help of a native Oromo (or Galla) speaker, he was able to translate the Bible into the native language. God brought him through; by faith he continued despite the obstacles. During those times when he faced despair, he was reminded of God’s presence and of the fact that God knows what humans can never know.  He always went back to work, no matter what he suffered.

The story of Onesimus Nesib relates in an interesting way to Father’s Day. Translating the Bible into his native language was important to Onesimos because he wanted his people be able to read and hear the Word of God in their own voice. When the translation was complete, he personally oversaw the publication of the book, attending to the printing himself. During that time, he received word that his youngest child had died, and his other children were also sick. He wanted to drop everything to return to his family, but he didn’t want to leave his work. His wife wrote to him to encourage him to stay with the printing, that all would be well with the family. She felt his work was very important and that she could handle things at home. He was torn, but did as his wife suggested.

Haven’t we all been torn between our families and our work? This is especially true for fathers who often put in so many hours at the office that they do not have time to spend with their families. They are often unsure how to deal with their kids. Perhaps that’s why they turn to Dad jokes. They don’t consciously even know that those jokes are an important part of being a father, of helping their children grow and mature in unexpected ways.

It doesn’t matter what work we do, whether we are translators, missionaries, garbage men, office workers, nurses, teachers, businessmen, skilled or unskilled laborers: whatever we do, we are called to do it well and to do it to the glory of God. But fathers, who are often the main or sole breadwinner in a family, are also called to be good fathers. This is probably the toughest part of being a Dad: knowing where to draw the line between responsibilities at home and at work. 

Fathers are a gift from God for us, given to guide and encourage, rebuke and rebuild, following the example of the only Father who could be good, right, and true: our Father in heaven. Though some will not live up to expectations, there are fathers that are worth a moment of celebration and thanksgiving because they are doing their best. Let us remind our fathers this Sunday that God is with them through their storms. He stands with them as they try to figure out how to do it all in a world that demands so much from them. And when times are especially tough, they can face the storms with the peace from God and jokes that make their children roll their eyes, as they guide them into maturity, growing into the people our Father has created and redeemed them to be, children whose mouths are filled with laughter.

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