My son’s sensitive, and I think that’s HARDCORE!

love-never-fails-woodDaily, whether by your news APP, T.V, radio, newspaper or general water cooler chat, we are reminded of the brutality and cruelness that exists. The content of so many news publications reads like a who’s who list of the latest Antichrists, duking it out for the top dog position on the worlds most evil list.

Just sitting here writing, I have my ears accosted by some baseball clad, track suit pant wearing wanna be tough guy. His language on the phone would bring shudders to the toughest made man. Shouting expletives in the middle of the parking lot to someone on his phone, weaving in and out of the cars until he makes his way back to the table. He must be almost 22, filled with boyish insecurities and yet banging his chest like a fully grown silverback. The anger, the hatred, the ultimatums and the indifference to the people surrounding him, most of whom I wager are not excited by both his volume and content. How is it we are surrounded by such sand papery people and yet look at our children and become concerned with their emotions being too available, they are too sensitive, they need to develop tougher skins. Appears to me, we should be fending off all hardness and embracing their softer sides for as long as possible, especially since the world that awaits them when they eventually step into adulthood will do a sterling job of attempting to knock the softness out of their hearts.

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The Purpose of a Father! Part 2

 Well, here we go with part 2 of the purpose of a Father. Everyday it seems I fall in my pursuit of perfection as a Dad, but do you know what? That’s fine, I know whose I am and I know I am a new creation, righteous, cleansed and with these truths at my side I will press on forgetting all the mistakes that lie behind me. I will keep pursuing my Fathers heart in this area, and I believe the last eight purposes are well connected with Gods heart for Fathering.

Again, this is not a fully comprehensive list, but it’s a good start, a good measuring tool with which to gauge where you are as a father, and where you feel God wants you to be.

Here we go, the Purpose of a Father is:

  1. To create a place of safety.
  2. To set the atmosphere.
  3. To love his children’s Mom.
  4. To pray for his wife, children and marriage.
  5. To set the example that you must live what you speak.
  6. To raise warrior princes and beautiful princesses.
  7. To set the example of what God intended relations to be.
  8. To create focus.

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Stop naffhousing the kids!

Well lets expand on the term naff-housing. I am not sure if it is in any dictionary, so in order to keep things professional what I will do is give my personal interpretation of what it means to naff-house.

Naffhouse-pronounced naff house-to treat like or make out as if one is in need of treatment that is unsuitable in terms of age, level of responsibility or calling.

That should do it!

I’ll get back to this but first some background. I am a guys guy, a mans man, but I do have feelings, I love my wife, my son and my God. He has created me to Father and mentor, to be a husband and man who the world needs. To be a bastion of His definition of what He intended men to be. That is what I am aiming for. But let me say at the outset that love never fails, I abhor abuse, detest unfair treatment of children but discipline, true Godly discipline does not even resemble the two.

I love my son with all my heart, yup I said it, heart. If you think using the words ‘love’ and ‘heart’ in the same sentence is a bit squishy, well then, get over it.

I am intending to raise a man who will stand for and where others crumble, a man who speaks the truth when lies and half-truths are safer, a man who will stare into the storm of all that God hates and declare he knows His God, he loves his God and nothing short of God Himself will move him from his resolve to stand for what he believes. That is my goal. God willing I will see this.

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