Fathers Day recap. (15 years without)

Happy (belated)  Fathers Day to all the dads out there.

This past Sunday my pastor delivered a great sermon on the gifts we can all give to our Dads on Fathers day. It was five easy ideas and views point that were all biblical sound; we are to Honor them because that was one of the commandments. We are to have understanding when it comes to why they are the way they are, why they can be hard on us at times and soft at time. We are to show appreciation to them for all the hard work that they have done for us in our lives (If you grew up with out a father that might be hard to do believe me I understand.) And finally we are to forgive them because just like us, they are only human and they are flawed.

Again I say this was a great sermon. If you get a chance I suggest you go to my church's website and find the link to watch the sermon or even just come down to Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta Georgia and hear from the Pastor in person.

But I want to back track to a few hours before the service that morning.
I was Saturday night ( 12:00 am Sunday morning if you want to get technical) and I was on my way home from work and it hit me suddenly. "It's fathers day and I am married which means someday will have a child or two and I''l be a father. What kind of Father will I be?" I haven't mentioned much about it on this forum, but I grew up without a father. He was killed when I was 8 years old and I have spent 17 years with just my mom and my sisters. Now as a black man in the south unfortunately that story is a common one. The part that is not so common is the fact that I knew him, seen him, talk to him. The day I saw him in the coffin still screams in my head at times and I will never forget it.
So I sat in my car and I asked my shelf "what kind of man do I want to be for my children? What kind of father do I want to be for them?" I realized that I did not have an answer to my own questions, but God did. I drove home praying to God to make me into a man that can be a good father, That I can't do this alone. That I can't set the standard without knowing your standards. That I can't be the example without that God's help. I parked my car and thanked God for what he has done for me and then I went home. Kissed my wife and went to bed.

Fast track Sunday morning after service. I am in my Pastors office. I thank him for the sermon and He asked me if I knew my father. He knows that I come form a single parent household and knows a bit of my testimony and so it wasn't that odd of a question. I told him yes. I knew him before he was died and I spent time with him. I told him that he died when I was 8 then he said " you have gone 17 years without a father." being that I am 25 now. This September I'll be 26 and it will be 18 years since I have seen my father outside of a photo in my computer. And on the way home my wife tells me that technically it has only been 15 years that I have gone fatherless.

She was right( No surprise there). In that last two years I have develop a close relationship with a man I can gladly call my church father. My friend and the man who lead me to the Lord, Robert Canfield. In the last two years he has been my friend, My best man at my wedding. My brother in the Lord. More importantly he has been my Father, getting me out off more struggles and difficulties than I care to list. All without turning his back on me. Always with love for me and a lesson behind whatever we were doing. Robert I thank you for the coffee runs and the walks around the church. I thank you for the sermon writing and being close by when I preach. For smiling when I sing in church. And getting on my case when I mess up. Thank you for being my Dad.