That of a Father

I know it's been awhile since I last posted, and that this post doesn't have much to do with my road trip, but it is still a part of my journey nonetheless.

Yesterday my sister had another baby. (YAY!!! I'm an Uncle again!! WOOT! WOOT!) And this got me thinking about being a Father. I am not one (yet) but it is something that I am looking forward to. After hearing this wonderful bit of news, I began to imagine just what it would feel like to have a child of my own, and what it would feel like to be a Father.

Father, A word that is almost meaningless to me now, yet carries within it the stirrings of the greatest joy, the greatest love that a man can experience, yet also the greatest pain and heartache that the world has ever known. What an awesome responsability!! To be a Father. To be the one to mold and guide a young life in this world, to teach and shape one into an adult that will have a great impact on the world around them. It is something so amazing, so awesome, so wonderful and sorrowful at the same time, I do not think I am ready for such a burden. In fact I know I am not worthy to be called by that majestic and powerful name as Father. Yet my heart stirs within me, bringing tears to my eyes, when I think that one day I may put on the mantle of such.

Father. A very important role in our lives, I would go so far as to say, THE most important role one could ever take. A father is not only one who teaches and guides, but one who protects, comforts, provides for, and nurtures. One who bestows upon each one of us our very identities. The one who defines who we are as a person. I know many of us are lost and confused about who we are, and I would attribute that to the lack of a father, in one way or another. The fact is, we NEED fathers, we need those in our lives who will not only speak truth and guidance in the dark and twisted turnings that life often takes, but one who imparts wisdom, knowledge, and life to us in that awkward and vulnerable stage in life known as childhood. For is it through the father that a boy becomes a man, and a girl becomes a woman. We would all still be children (and many of us still are regardless of age) if it wasn't for a father.

Although I am not a father (or even a father figure to my knowledge) I believe that I have had a glimpse, a quick peek into that role and what it may mean to be such. But it is something that I will never fully experience until that day comes when my bride brings forth a child, born in my own image, that I will truly grasp what it means to be a father, and to experience the greatest joy, and the greatest sorrow my heart may ever know. And I await that day with eager anticipation.