I Am A Father

I am a father.

I am holding my firstborn child shortly after she is born. I do know how to do this. Her head in my hand and her body is balanced down my arm. Judy stands nearby, leaning forward, hands slightly outstretched. I do not drop the baby.  

I look at each of my babies in awe. Awe and wonder. I marvel at how perfectly formed they are. Wow. The potential contained in that tiny being is immense and incredible. And they are totally dependent on us. Absolutely, totally dependent.

Two very short years later they are walking and talking. And I marvel once again. I marvel at the potential of a little girl, who has just learned to speak, who tells me NO! And I say, “WHAT did you say.” And they repeat themselves, and this time they stick their little chin out. I am incredulous at the audacity.   All that sweet innocence, and now I am finding out that the path of all that potential potential is possibly….Sociopath, or Pyschopath and the Path I want is the straight and narrow Path. So, with a little weeping (on both sides) and wailing (just on one side), we help them get started down that straight and narrow Path.

And, in time, they get it. And as they grow up we all find out that there is no one righteous, no not one. They also find out that love covers a multitude of sin.

I discover I like being a father. It is little bit like the game of golf–to do it well is a lot harder than it looks.  And I discover that being a good father is a lot easier when I listen to my wife.

And now, those three babies I once held in the palm of my hand have me wrapped around their little finger. It is a fair exchange. They get love. I get it back in spades.   They get an education. And I get a real education. I want the best for them. They do their best for me. And I get to see their potential begin to bloom.   I get one of the greatest privileges known to man– to be a father.

I   am a father. I enjoy fatherhood.   And the part I love the most is when they call me …daddy.