Yesterday was Father’s Day in Guatemala.
Missed it?
So did many people here.

While Mother’s Day is filled with firecrackers and loudspeakers announcing moms in the streets (starting at 5 a.m.—which honestly might not be every mom’s idea of a gift 😅), Father’s Day often passes almost unnoticed.

Most dads don’t get the day off work, and many aren’t celebrated at all.

Why is that?

Sadly, in many ways it makes sense.

So many fathers here are absent.

Moms are often known for fighting to raise their five kids despite overwhelming challenges when dad leaves. And dads are often known for… leaving.

A patient recently shared a story that really drove this home. When she found out she was having a baby boy, she was excited.

I asked if that’s what she and her husband had hoped for.

She said yes—but also that her husband had told her that, boy or girl, they would receive whatever God gave them. I always love to encourage that mindset.

But she understood it at a deeper level.

She told me about her sister, who had three baby girls.

Her husband became angry.

He said that since she couldn’t give him a son, he would find a woman who could—and he left. He’s now with someone else who will, no doubt, give him more girls.

Stories like this are far too common—and they’re part of the reason Father’s Day here can come and go without much notice.

And yet, this isn’t only a Guatemalan issue.

Years ago in Tennessee, I translated in a children’s church on Father’s Day. Not the teacher, nor a single child in that room, had ever known their dad.

Not one.

The teacher shared about a Heavenly Father who never leaves—who never abandons.

It was both heartbreaking and beautiful, and a reminder that this struggle crosses cultures and countries.

Which is exactly why I believe it’s so important that we celebrate the dads who are present.

Not just the ones who stayed—but the ones who truly show up. The ones who engage, mentor, lead, encourage, and love their children (and sometimes children who aren’t even their own).

These men matter.

And they absolutely deserve to be celebrated.