I was told I was a
great Dad today. Those words never grow old. As my boys grow older and start to
enter their own manhood, my role will change from protector to coach, from
provider to friend, and eventually, hopefully, the man they will come to when
they need advice. I think I'm ready. I hope they think I am too.
Don't get me wrong, I want to hang on to these wonder years as long as possible. I love the hugs, the kisses and the reliance. It's a great ego boost after all! I'm very much aware, however, that my boys are becoming men; the good and honourable men I always knew they would become.
Good hearts; such good hearts. One full of confidence and sarcasm; the other still building the faith in himself his mother and I, and all those that truly know and love him, know he so justly deserves to feel. Kind hearts, aware of others and blessed with the spirit of sharing. Welcoming of difference and fierce defenders of what is right, true and fair. OK, maybe Logi did earn the name Silent Ninja for a reason, but deep down this boy would defend truth with his life. It's one of his most amazing qualities.
You hear of some families where the word love is seldom heard. Families where the warm and soothing blanket of a cuddle is rationed and withheld. How could somebody frown connection with a life they have helped to create / mould? It makes me sad to think of children growing up in environments where love does not overflow every heart. Sometimes it even makes me cry. I hear of fathers who desert their children and I can't fathom how one could do that. How could you not want to feel the love of your child(ren) every day? Every hour? Every second? It is so foreign to me.
When God blessed me with two boys I knew how important my role was and how important it would become. I was able to look back at my own childhood and see the wonderful way in which my Father had prepared me to be a man: the love; the open displays of affection; the encouragement, the discipline; the stability; the provision. In short, the gift of freedom with security, the gift of wonder without fear, the gift of love without limit, and the gift of hope for a life to be fully lived. How wonderful is that?
I owe that man so much.
I can only hope to give my boys the same gifts he gave me.
