One never stops being a father...

As a father one wishes that all of his children grow up as successful adults. For some children this comes easier than for others. Some will claim that this is due to lack of effort or simply never growing up, this may or may not be true since every situation is different. As a father one tries to see the abilities of each child as an individual, never comparing one child to another of his or her siblings.

The decisions a father makes will be questioned by many and many feel they have the solutions to problems which arise. It is easy to speak your mind and point the finger at what you percieve to be the root of the problem. However, life is not always that b cut and dry. Life teaches us many things one of which is to be patient and try your best to put yourself in the other persons shoes. It always amazes me how we are willing to do this for total strangers but at the same time are willing to diss-own a brother or sister when they are not meeting our expectations for them. And that I might add is what it comes down to, expectations one has set for another person without any right to do so. God has given us the right to choose our own way and if that way is not the best for us but we choose to take it anyway, it is sad that we may be viewed as a failure or embarrassment to our family. We need our family when things are not going as we thought they should or would. But sadly that is when we are cast-off as a dissapointment. How sad that once we have reached our goals we look down on those who for whatever reason have not and maybe never will.

This is where a father who is truly a father can find reasons and ways to be proud of each of his children. Yes, some make that decision an easy one since they seem to make all the right decisions and are always succeeding at what they want to accomplish in life. On the other hand you have the other child who can't quite get a grip on life as easily as they would like to. This child by no means is a dissapointment to the father, and it would be a sin to cast-off this one just to appease the wishes of another.

Walk in my shoes, you may see things in a different light, try it...your children will love you for it!