[toj.cc]WildBillKickoff
New Member
I'm writing a book.
I'm sure that's come as a shock on this forum. However, unique to this forum, my book is actually non-fiction. It's a series of letters to my son about what he should learn from me.
It is a clear Biblical mandate that fathers are to teach their children about the Bible, doctrine, and how to live. The premise of the book is that I am writing these letters so that if something happens to me where I'm not around to teach him personally, I will be able to teach him through these letters.
Here's letter number one (I have written four so far-- this intro, the salvation plan, provision/job advice, and sin-- this one is the shortest by far).
I'm sure that's come as a shock on this forum. However, unique to this forum, my book is actually non-fiction. It's a series of letters to my son about what he should learn from me.
It is a clear Biblical mandate that fathers are to teach their children about the Bible, doctrine, and how to live. The premise of the book is that I am writing these letters so that if something happens to me where I'm not around to teach him personally, I will be able to teach him through these letters.
Here's letter number one (I have written four so far-- this intro, the salvation plan, provision/job advice, and sin-- this one is the shortest by far).
Little Buddy—
I’ve been going through some amazing changes in my life in the past few months, and I now understand fully that the most important job a father has is to teach his children the right way to live. I’m sorry I didn’t understand this sooner, but the good news is that as I write this, you are three years old and I have plenty of time to instill in you the values and character that you will need. At least, I hope so. My prayer, Joshua, is that you grow up to be a better man than me.
You see, I’m nowhere near as perfect as you think I am now. You’ll discover that over the next fifteen years or so that you’ll live with me and your mom, but you’ll come to accept that a few years afterwards. There is only one perfect thing about me, and that is Christ inside of me. If you learn nothing else from me, please take to heart that God loves you, that He sent Jesus to die for your sin so that you don’t have to die, that He rose again in victory over death so that no one has to die, and that you can accept this free gift and live forever in Heaven with Jesus, me, and your mom. This is the most important decision you will ever make. I hope God gives me the privilege of being there when you make that decision, but only God knows if He will allow me that honor.
I want and need to leave you this record in case something happens to me. In this crazy world, there is no guarantee that I’ll see you grow up. So, just in case something does happen, I want to be sure that you know two things: First, you need to know that I love you enough to write down what I’ve learned in 29 years of life, in 13 years of being a Christian, in 7 years of loving your mom, and in 3 years of being your daddy. Second, you must know that I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you—not on your birthday, but in your sonogram picture which I kept on my desk at work until I could replace it with a real picture. In fact, I think I loved you from the moment on that Sunday morning when your mom woke me up by waving a pregnancy test with a + sign on it in front of my face. You were loved by me before you were born, just like your Heavenly Father loved you from the moment He created you and placed you in your mother’s womb.
And Joshua, I accept you for who you are. I can already see in your steel blue eyes that you are the same as, yet somehow very different from me, and that’s OK. I don’t want you to live up to any expectations I have for you, whether I set them for you or you come up with them yourself and attribute them to me. I have lived my entire life under the shadow of my father’s “expectations”, which are something I created in my own mind. Son, I release you right now from ever having to “live up” to any standard anyone in this family creates. Don't feel that you have to accomplish any task or win any award to "earn" my love. My love is given to you as a free gift-- just like salvation, which I'll write you about very soon.
I am infinitely more concerned with the development of your character than whether you win a school spelling bee or have a high paying, powerful job. Those things are nice, but trust me—it is better to be remembered as a man of character than as a man of power or accomplishment.
It’s time for bed for me (actually, it’s well past that time), but some things can’t wait. I love you, son, and hope that all is well with you.
Love,
Dad