The Body of Christ in Action!

I received this email on Monday from a brother in our church. I am thankful for his willingness to be honest with me and to challenge me to a deeper parenting experience. It is amazing to me how God always has in store for us a deeper and more richly experienced life than we could ever manufacture on our own. I wish I remembered that more often....

Curtis,

This is (A man from our church) (in case you didn't recognize the email address). I just wanted to drop you a quick email to welcome you to the father club. Becoming part of that club, as you know, was the easy part. I also wanted to challenge you to start thinking about making the commitment to joining the daddy club. I think you know from working with teens, father does not necessarily equal daddy. Trust me, this is no job for the timid or weak. The hours are long, the sacrifices are great, the heartaches are frequent, the appreciation is sometimes lacking, the pay is infrequent, and frequently doing your job right means making your primary customers (kids + wife/mom) really upset with you.

But the payoff is great when it comes, and it's worth the effort. Given that how you do this may determine your kids' perspective on who God is and what He is like, it's also eternal. What's more, God has equipped you uniquely to do this better than anyone else ever could. But you only have one chance at it, and it's an extremely time-sensitive offer. So if you're up to it (and I think you are with a lot of help from above), and you're willing, I extend a welcome to join the daddy club. The longer you delay in accepting and preparing the harder it is to join.

P.S. BTW, if I read scripture correctly, this is your primary calling and vocation in life. It goes ahead of everything except devotion to God and servant-leader to wife (notice, I didn't include youth pastor in there). Just my opinion