I am goofy sometimes, clueless some others; nevertheless, I am a father. When you come home from school you know I will be there; I am not hiding and I am not running around with other women, but my focus is God, your mother and you guys!

I am a father; a father that loves you dearly, a father who cares deeply for you; a father that will unashamedly and loudly celebrate your success and will be hurt when you are hurting. I am a father that is preparing you for the cruelties and injustices of this short life. I am a father; a father that will tell you the truth and sometimes hurt your feelings. Nevertheless, I am a father that will always be there for you as long as I am a part of this world.

When everybody else is gone, when they get to see the ugliness in you and walk away from your life, I will be right here for you. Whomever messes with you will have to mess with me. As a matter of fact, they are better off messing with me.

I demand respect, it is not an option; I will be honest with you as I share my failures, but my failures will never disqualify me from doing the job that I am called to do, which is to be a father to you. I will confront you, I will discipline you and I will do whatever it takes to move you from the path of foolishness and into the path of righteousness. I am Old School and will not hold back when punishment is what you deserve; but I will never hold back my love for you either!

I wish I could be perfect, so that with you, I could never make a mistake. I wish I knew how to speak a little better, I wish I knew what to say all the time, I wish that everything that comes out of my lips comes out the right way; I wish I could decorate or even express myself better when you cross that line…I wish I could deal and react a little better when you disrespect me, when you disrespect this house, when you disrespect yourself and when you disrespect God. But I wish, above all but my God, that you could see my love for you.

Beloved sons and daughters, I can see you all doing great and mighty things for God; but I can also see the plan of the enemy to kill you, to destroy you and to steal every purpose of the Most High in you. My eyes are the eyes of a father; a father that prays for you, a father the watches over you and would gladly give his life for the realization of your greater purpose.

I want you to be prepared for the cruelty and the toughness of life; I want you standing when the blows of deception, frustration, tragedy, depression and betrayal come against your soul. I want to see you standing; I want you trained for what is coming; I want you victorious and in Heaven with me one day.

I will give you the Gospel, the only good thing in me. I will give you my hope and the un-describable confidence that in God all things are possible. Oh how I wish that I could be perfect for the sake of you!

Sorry when I fall short, sorry when I did not give you a good example, sorry for the times I was not able to fully cover my obvious humanity and my shame. But I am the father for you; make no mistake about that! Satan will not move me and intimidation will not change my path. I will guide you to the only One worthy of being called a Father; I will do my best to direct you to HIM.

I am indeed, a work in progress, but I am not running away from being a father. I am not whining about it and I am not trying to escape monthly payments. I proudly embrace the amazing joy of being your father.  Your destiny is more important than your feelings; but don’t think that I don’t care, when I hurt your feelings. I know this may sound tough; in a way, may be arrogant, but your wisdom has yet to catch up with mine. It will do you well to listen, it will bless your soul to obey. Nevertheless, you have the choice to do and say in your heart whatever you want. But for now I hope that you let me be your father.