Lord, Teach Me to be A Dad

I read somewhere that "being a dad takes guts, patience and a strong will, but being a father only requires you to be male..." I came out with the feeling that that is more sarcastic than it is factual... Well, I was wrong...

With Fathers' Day drawing nigh (it will actually be there tomorrow, Sunday, June 16, 2013), a day which is rarely celebrated with pomp and enthusiasm like Women's or Mothers' Day because (blame my thinks) people have some "secret beef" against men (read "The Boy Child Dilemma"), I am worried that my dad (both in Heaven and on earth) will not feel appreciated and pampered with words and gifts like He/he deserves.

I am worried that we are going to take the men in our lives for granted - just as it is the norm. I am worried that men all over the world will end up wishing that this day was blotted from the calender altogether in order to spare them the ridiculous agony it exposes them to. I am also worried that I should be worried about such thinks.

But wait, maybe I can do something about it. Maybe I can start preparing myself to be a GREAT dad so that I will not face humiliation from my future wife and daughters... (I'm dreaming baby! hehe... :)). Maybe I should start getting worried about who I am and not necessarily about what other men are. Maybe that will change my world... And that is why I am praying the prayer above...

So this is what I have decided: that I will celebrate my two dads this coming Sunday, celebrate other great men in my life that have helped to shape the person that I am; and apart from that, learn a few things from them about, er, fatherhood?, no, about "dadhood". :)

While in the learning process, I want to see and know what dads are made up of because I want to make a GREAT dad someday... So, if they are a mixture of clay and gold, I want that. If they are stupid, I wanna be stupid. Yeah, if it takes stupidity in order to make a dad, I want that. If they are humble, I wanna be humble. If they collect stones and chase grasshoppers, boy! I wanna be that. If GREAT dads carry the blunt of their decisions without complaining, I want to learn to do that. If they provide for their families and live to love each member of their families unconditionally, Lord teach me that. I wanna be great - someone's GREAT DAD.

My moments of wanting to be just a father to my (future) children and a mere name to my (future) wife are gone. I want better Fathers' Days in the future - where I'll always look forward to celebrating and not just having one. (Boy! I am over-dreaming, right? ... Well, never mind... my dreams conquer my world - they make it worthwhile.)

I wanna deal with my arrogance, my stubbornness, my "too much knowledge", my "being a man"... I wanna step out of my comfort zone into the realms of the unknown where my dad in Heaven is - where He's gonna hold my hand and teach me how to be a dad...

Hold a man's hand this weekend, look him into the eye, tell him how much he means to you, then softly tell him, "Happy Fathers Day...!"

ALL men need that. Yes, all men deserve it...

Side note: Read this article to find out just a lil' bit of what I'm talking about. 


Bonface Morris.