A Father

I am a father.

We are not expendable or replaceable.

The father exists for his children. To separate the children from their father deeply saddens the father, but wounds and scars the children.

We are not better than the mother, nor are we lesser than the mother. Neither, however, are we equal to the mother. We are to be teammates with the mother, united in the goal of raising our children. Our roles are unique, but complimentary. Our strengths are different, just as our weaknesses are different.

I am a father.

To reduce, minimize or eliminate my role in order to meet the needs of anyone other than the children is to deny our children that innate need that only the father can meet.

My role is not negotiable, nor was it created by man or any court. It was ordained by God. It is a privilege, but it is also a responsibility. It is not a job, nor is it a right. But it is who and what I am and forever will be.

My physical presence in the day-to-day lives of my children cannot be replaced by phone calls, Emails, web cams, letters, presents or money, though those things are nice.

I am a teacher, a leader, a provider, a protector, a priest, a friend and a playmate.

For those of us who have adopted children, we fathers had an equal say in choosing our child. For those of us with birthed children, we made an equal contribution to the genetic make-up of our child.

We are not better than grandparents, uncles, aunts, or any other relatives, nor are they better than us. But we are something that none of them can ever be to our children -- we are fathers.

We are not perfect nor should it be expected of us. But we should be striving for it every day because we know that every measure of our children's health is affected by how we live our lives and how we raise our children.

We should not be punished because there are fathers who deny and neglect their responsibilities, just as the mother should not be denied for the same reason. I am not those men. I am my children's father -- I always have been and I always will be and I will never hide or run from that responsibility. Rather, I will seek it whole-heartedly all of my days.

I am a father.

I did not choose it, though I desired it. I was chosen, because God ordained it.

My children were born with a father for a reason. Fathers are necessary to create a life, and fathers are necessary to nurture and develop that life.

The role of the father is solely for the benefit of the children. To separate the children from their father will deprive the children of everything that God ordained the father to be in their lives.

I am a father and I love my children more than my own life. I thank God every day for blessing me with the honor of being their father.

I am their father. That cannot be changed.

I am their father. I am their daddy. And they are my children.