Love the Child - Hate the Deed

Okay. I admit it. The first time I changed my son's diaper I messed up. Well, actually, he messed up. I laid him on his back, took off his diaper, and leaned over. I had to find a towel to dry off. I loved my son, but hated the deed. I also learned to put the washcloth over him when changing his diaper.

So, he grows and starts climbing. He scales up the kitchen table and destroys your tax return, which was left there after an all-night session. You love your son, but really hate the deed.

He gets a little bigger and goes to school. He gets into a fight and gives another boy a black eye. You love your son and hate the deed (but maybe not so much).

Then, you give him the keys to the car and wham! He isn't hurt, but the car is totaled. You thank God he wasn't hurt, but . . .

We love our children, but we hate those deeds based on bad decisions. The older the child, the more costly the bad decisions - especially when they involve relationships. Cars are relatively inexpensive to fix when compared to a baby born out of wedlock.

So what can a Dad do? We need to be a role model of good decisions. We need to have our child sit next to us in church. We need to lead our little ones in prayer and family devotion. We need to train our children to filter out the world. We need to stand up to evil. We need to let the child push back, but we need to remain firm. We need to learn the word, "no" (especially when our daughters start out with, "Daddy, I loooove you"). We need to pray for and with our children - aloud. We need to be involved in their lives. We need to be strong in the Lord. We need to love their mother. We need to keep our word. We need to let them trust us.

At the end of the day, we need to let them go and trust God.