Father's Day: Finding Purpose Beyond Providing

With Father's Day coming up, I wanted to focus a little on fatherhood.

I enjoy articles from Greater Good Magazine, published by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley, because they combine research with positive, practical ideas that can inspire everyday family life. Their work focuses on the science of well-being, compassion, connection, and meaningful living.

One article that stood out to me is “What Is Your Purpose as a Father?” by Jeremy Adam Smith. The article explores research suggesting that fathers with a strong sense of purpose tend to be healthier, happier, and more resilient.

For international families living in the Netherlands, this feels especially relevant.

Many fathers here are parenting across cultures, languages, and expectations. They may be building a career in a new country, supporting children in Dutch schools, maintaining family traditions from home, and helping their children develop a sense of belonging in more than one place.

Traditionally, fatherhood was often associated with providing financially and offering discipline. But modern fatherhood has expanded. Many fathers today also see nurturing, emotional presence, and connection as central parts of their role.

This shift matters. Parenting abroad can be joyful, but it can also feel demanding and isolating. A sense of purpose can help fathers look beyond the daily stress: the school forms, the language barriers, the long workdays, the bedtime negotiations. It reminds them why these small moments matter.

Purpose does not mean being a perfect father. It means having a direction.

For one father, purpose might mean raising kind and confident children. For another, it might mean helping children stay connected to their cultural roots. For another, it might mean being more emotionally available than previous generations of fathers were able to be.

Children do not need perfect fathers. They need fathers who keep showing up, repairing, learning, and growing.

This Father's Day, perhaps the question is not only: “Am I doing enough?”

Maybe it is also: “What kind of father do I want to be?”

For international fathers in the Netherlands, the answer may be beautifully complex: to provide, to nurture, to translate between cultures, to create belonging, and to help children feel rooted even while growing up across borders.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers building meaningful family lives here in the Netherlands.