Right now as I hang out in front of the grill with the smell of cooking ribs I think about how thankful I am for my family.  That I have a loving caring wife, a wonderful daughter, these two are the reasons I’m a Father and celebrated today. My Dad and my father-in-law, along with some help(yeah that’s you Mom and Jazmina), did a good job raising me, my wife and sister-in-law. 

Both of these men have given me a Godly example of how to raise my daughter, provide and care for my family. I know I’ve said it numerous times before but I am so proud that my dad taught me things growing up that I still use today. I can build things, I can fix my own car, I can repair things in the house.  Growing up my dad wasn’t the wordiest, still isn’t but, he knew how to get to the point. Most of our must have father and son conversations can be summed up with ” don’t be an idiot.”  He always wanted better for me, and made me know that if I wanted something, I was going to work hard for it. 

Too many times today, we see fathers and families that just have children. It’s a world of I take my kid here and there I go to their games, I participate in their life. Participating in their life is not the same as being in their life. There are too many stories on the news today of young men, going out doing unspeakable things.  As a father, I want to instill in my child that I am here for her no matter what she does. I am also here to provide corrective measures as necessary. 

Too many times we over-compensate for our work schedules, or for the things we feel our dads did wrong. We take the I’ll do it differently approach to the extreme. All kids get a trophy now, everyone makes the team. We set kids up for failure. As kids we had to fight our own battles. If you lost you tried harder next time, you learned what you did wrong and fixed it for the next time. 

So I’ll end with this. Father’s be a great daddy today. Hold your kids tight, let them see you showing love to their mother, and be the daddy that they deserve.