Parishioner Aaron Gindele Brings the Faith to Fatherhood and Family

If there’s one thing that being a father brings to Aaron Gindele of Holy Family Parish, it’s the joy — the joy of being a father to his six children, the joy of bringing them to Christ, and the joy of his children helping him to be more childlike in his love of Christ.

Aaron and his wife, Nicolette, have five daughters and one son. Their ages range from 17 to 4.

“We have the whole gamut right now in ages,” Aaron says.

In reflecting on his role as a father as the celebration of Father’s Day approaches, Aaron says being a father affects every aspect of life.

“It’s your drive each day when you wake up,” he says. “You’re making sure your family is cared for and free time is around that. It brings a lot of joy to life because of it. It helps to keep you in line and your priorities straight. It’s not ‘mine’ anymore. There are family priorities, and the decisions I make are what’s best for my family, my wife, and my kids. Everything is driven around that.”

Aaron has found that fatherhood helps him to grow closer to Christ because of the influence of his children.

“I’m always reminded — always — that Jesus is teaching me to be more childlike and my children are reminders of that,” Aaron says. “Being able to witness their innocence and love for each other, their openness to learning — those facts remind me of how I need to be the one more childlike, myself. It keeps you motivated and awake in a spiritual sense. There is no growing wearing with your faith life. I have children who desire to be brought closer to Christ.”

Seeing their wish to grow in faith helps Aaron grow himself and to be attentive to his spiritual life. Not only do his children help to build his spiritual life, but they also serve as an inspiration for living in stewardship.

“There are a lot of ways to be stewards with the three aspects of time, talent, and treasure,” Aaron says. “When you refocus how you’re spending resources in areas, I take a lot of cues from my kids. Only recently, my son asked about going down the road with me and picking up trash. This is meaningful and allows me to act on doing things, which is all stewardship of time. And with treasure, I can see them give each week to the offertory. This reinforces the importance of setting an example and living it. It’s contagious, you practice it and see it in my kids.”

By having six children ranging in age from teens to preschool, Aaron has enjoyed witnessing their experiences as they receive the sacraments.

“In a way, you get to relive what they experience,” he says. “It brings a lot of joy to see them receive the sacraments and grow in their life with Christ.”

The Gindeles’ plans for Father’s Day will probably be low-key, with no set plans as yet. But no matter whether they go to a ball game or spend time boating, Aaron will be enjoying himself as “Dad.”

“It’s hard to imagine life any other way,” he says. “Before I was a father, I always longed for the day. I don’t regret a minute of it. Even given the most difficult of times, I find it easy to take a lot of joy.”

Aaron Gindele and family