This weekend we celebrate you. We celebrate what you stand for in our hearts, lives, homes and society. We honor your love, courage, strength and perseverance through the character in which you stand. We celebrate you as leaders worth following. We celebrate your compassion.

Despite the fact that we get to honor fathers, I cannot help but feel sad after observing the misconceptions of fatherhood.

Misconceptions of fatherhood;

• Getting a woman pregnant; just because one is able to get a woman pregnant doesn’t get him the fatherhood badge. They ought to be present in loving and caring for that child.
• Giving financial support is a gold medal to fatherhood; I personally get sick to my stomach when I see men singing praises to themselves because they write a regular check to buy diapers or other “needs” for their child/children. Please know that there’s actual physical work that goes into raising a child/children that money cannot buy.
• Being mean/unnecessarily rude to your children makes one a picture perfect father; being an example counts way more, being kind and learning to understand your children matters and yes at times there will be need to discipline….still, do it with love.
• A loud voice makes one a perfect to be feared father; again, I just can never agree with a father figure that just screams at their children. Please, remember that your children are human beings that deserve a certain level of respect. And you can still get your point across by talking to them in a gentle and loving manner. Let your children respect you out of love not out of fear.
• Fathers can’t change diapers; wrong, wrong and wrong; if you claim to be a parent, changing your child’s diaper should not be a debate. My groom changed many, many diapers and he agrees that it gave him more bonding time with our children. Remember that despite being a man, you are also a parent seeking to care for your child/children at every chance you get.

Again, to be a father is beyond the pregnancy test celebration;

• It’s helping your woman throughout the pregnancy.
• It’s praying for your child/children.
• It’s encouraging your child/children and not putting them down.
• It’s assuring your child/children constantly.
• It’s truly talking with your child/children and reaching their hearts as they grow.
• It’s counseling your children whenever needed without holding back.
• It’s staying truthful/honest under every circumstance.
• It’s forgiving your children over and over.
• It’s believing in your child/children.
• It’s helping your child get up when they fall or fail in this life.
• It’s accepting your child’s/children’s failures in this life.
• It’s being someone they can trust without a doubt.
• It’s loving the mother of your child/children.
• It’s being present when your child/children are born if possible.
• It’s giving your woman time to heal after child birth.
• It’s actively staying involved in taking care of your child/children in every way needed.
• Yes it’s changing diapers.
• It’s playing with the child/children.
• It is spending time with your children.
• It’s teaching and leading your children by example.
• It’s loving your children/child unconditionally.
• It’s allowing your child/children to see or know you when you are broken. So they can know how to love and pray for you.

It’s being the man God created you to be; the head and leader of your family starting with your child/children.

Happy father’s day to all of you wonderful fathers out there.

God bless.