Dads - Tell Stories!
About ten years ago, my children, who are now teenagers, began asking me to tell them a story.
I was petrified by their innocent request. Truly flummoxed.
Growing up, I wasn’t the storyteller. My dad was. My older brother was. My uncles were. They were all amazing! Tales of “Old Dry Fry” and “The Dumpmaster” still echo in my memory. I couldn’t hold a candle to them and had never really even wanted to try. But, what was I to do when my sweet little girls looked at me with their big eyes and asked me for a story?
I’m oh-so-thankful that I didn’t just put on a TV show for them. I’m even glad that I didn’t pull down one of my favorite books to read aloud. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love a good TV show (and even some not-so-good ones) and I think that children who go through life without hearing Lewis, Tolkien, and even Gordon Korman read aloud were robbed (not really). But I am grateful that, when asked for a story, I tried.
I told my girls the story of the Three Little Pigs.
Dads - you can do this. You can tell your kids the story of the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. Don’t poo-poo fairy tales. They’re great. Like it or hate it, Disney built an empire on the back of fairy tales.
Over time, my Three Little Pigs grew into the Three Little Princesses. Then, new worlds were born as I got more comfortable. Today, telling stories is one of my favorite things to do. But I never would have gotten here if I hadn’t tried to answer the call.
I think that the call on fathers to tell their children stories has great power and influence. The storyteller creates and frames a world for his hearers. He forms the space and fills it with characters. He directs the action of the protagonists and antagonists. Though there may be danger, dragons, evil witches, and embraced temptations, the one telling the story remains in control. He is the author. In all of this, there are potent echoes of reality.
When we dads stand before that most accepting of audiences - our own children - we join a long line of men who have stood, like Professor Tolkien, with their backs to their own hearths, filling their children’s lives with truth and meaning.
It’s a powerful privilege to be a dad. When your little ones ask you to tell them a story, brush up on the basics of an old favorite, keep it simple, and tell them …
“Once upon a time…”
Love you guys.
Michael Somerville is the author of several short stories, as well as an in-progress high-fantasy series called the Tales of the Broken Realm. He loves telling stories of hope about ordinary characters doing their small part to help heal a broken world. By day, he pays the bills as a hands-on storyteller and project manager, leading and envisioning professional teams in the "real-world", even as he is busily building and illustrating imaginary worlds in his evenings and on the weekends.
Outside of work and writing, he enjoys a wide range of hobbies, including playing music with his family and friends on keyboard or guitar, drawing, sculpting, painting, sewing, and blacksmithing, or walking the length of the Appalachian Trail in his home neighborhood in the Shenandoah Valley, where he serves as a Board member on his local civic association.
Most important to Michael are his family and his church. Michael and Jessica celebrate their 20th anniversary in 2026 and are happily raising three wonderful daughters. He serves actively in his local church, playing music on Sunday, teaching the older elementary kids, and leading a small group of wonderful saints. He hopes to hear "Well done" one day, and plans to keep serving his true King until then.
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