Daddy dear

I did not set out to become a father.

It was not one of those things that I grew up thinking that I would become. I guess I had very many other things that I wanted to accomplish first and fatherhood was not at the top of my priority list. I think it is a guy thing-I hardly think that there’s a young man somewhere out there who dreams and say to himself “I can’t wait to be a father!” No. I think we get shocked into it. For most of us it just finds us really. It’s different from what the girls are raised to become. At a tender age, a girl is already carrying around a doll, dressing the doll and having conversations with it. It is an innate thing for girls to want to be mothers.

It could also be that I wasn’t thinking much about it because I was born in a large family. My parents took the ‘multiple and fill the earth’ command seriously. They brought forth eight humans, serious believers these ones. So for the longest time I thought that there’s no point of competing with my parents. What’s the need of competition anyway? I wouldn’t bother; I’d just make money, travel the world and enjoy life, or so I thought.

Long story short, I am a father now.

Fatherhood has been an amazing journey. That thing that I really didn’t pay attention to, or even think of becoming has become that one thing that I immensely enjoy. So I thought that I would share a few lessons, joys, crazy moments and times in this fatherhood journey. It’s not that I am perfect at it, no. It’s that there’s something to share. I’ll concentrate on my own journey but in case you read this and feel that there’s a story you’d like us to hear, please reach out. I believe with all my heart that fatherhood is highly underrated in our times. I also believe that until you become a father yourself, you might never really understand the sacrifice it takes a man to father a child.

I believe that fatherhood is not a title.

I believe that it is a responsibility. It is a grave and solemn responsibility that must be taken as such. Fatherhood isn’t about which man can sire children and how many of those children can come from his loins. I believe that fatherhood is a responsibility beyond that. More importantly, I believe that fatherhood needs to be discussed more. I believe that more of the people in places of influence, those whose voices are loud enough to be heard by the majority, should speak more about it. I believe that this is a conversation that should be amplified. I believe that a generation will be lost if this generation will not be intentional about fatherhood. I believe that more young people need to be taught to be men, yes; but even more important, they need to be groomed to become fathers. I believe that a generation devoid of fathers is a lost generation.

Lastly, I believe that the best example of a father is God the father, our progenitor-from whence we originate. I believe that the first step to being an amazing father is being cognisant of the fact that you were also fathered-that God is your father. I’ll take a few weeks to write on fatherhood. I’ll write and you’ll read, yes?

Thank you!