What Makes A Man A Dad

What Makes a Man a Dad

Maybe you’ve heard the old story about fatherhood that says that when a child is 4 years old he

says proudly, "My dad knows everything about everything." When he is 7 he says, "Dad knows

almost everything about everything."

When he is 12 he says, "Well, it’s only natural that Dad doesn’t know everything." When he is

14 he says, "Dad is old fashioned." When he is 21 he says, "Dad is hopelessly out of step with the

times." When he is 25 he says, "Maybe Dad does know something about a few things." When he

is 35 he says, "Maybe we ought to call Dad & check this out with him." When he is 50 he says, "I

wonder what Dad would have thought of this?" And when he is 65 he says, "I sure wish I could

talk to Dad again."

Fatherhood has changed a lot over the years. I heard a father asked once who was in charge at his

home. He answered, "Well, my wife bosses the children. My children boss the dog & cat, & I

can say anything I want to the geraniums.

I can remember back in the 60’s when Robert Young played "Father Knows Best" on TV. He

was the ideal father. Remember? He always wore a coat & tie, even at home. His wife baked

cakes & cookies, & kept the house spotlessly clean. Whenever the children had problems, she

always told them, "Wait until Dad comes home & he’ll have the solution." And he always did.

He always spoke with great wisdom & knew just what to tell his family to do.

In recent years, the closest thing to a model father we have had was Dr. Huxtable in the Cosby

Show. And in his book about fatherhood, in the chapter titled, "A Baffling Question," Bill Cosby

wrote,

"So you have decided to have children. You have decided to give up quiet evenings at home

when you listened to good music & read good books. You have decided to give up lazy

weekends when you just held each other in your arms & assured each other of your love."

"You have decided to give up candlelight dinners where you could finish complete sentences.

You have decided to change all your couches into trampolines. You have decided to give up your

pursuit of the reproduction of fine art, & start coping with the pursuit of the reproduction of

yourself. Why? That’s the baffling question."

He went on, "Poets tell us that one of the reasons that we want to have children is because we

desire immortality. Yes, I must confess that I asked God for a son to carry on my family name.

And God did exactly what I asked Him to do. But now there are times when I ask my son not to

reveal his identity. I beg him, `Make up a name. Tell them anything, but don’t tell them you

belong to me, whatever you do.’"

"Immortality?" he says. "Now that I am the father of five, my only hope is that I will live long

enough to see all five of them leave home."

On the day that God created fathers an angel of the Lord stood in the background & watched.

"Lord," the angel asked, "are you sure you know what you are doing? If children are so close to

the ground, why are you making fathers so high up? After all, they will have to kneel down if

they ever shoot marbles with their children. They’ll have to lean way over to tuck them into bed

at night, & they’ll have to bend so far down to kiss them."

The Heavenly Father said, "Don’t worry, I know exactly what I’m doing. If I didn’t make fathers

so high, what would children have to look up to?"

Then the Lord made the hands of a father. They were big & sinewy & awkward. The angel

asked, "Have you really thought this through? Those fingers are so big & clumsy. How will they

be able to handle the pins of a diaper or unbutton a little button? They will never be able to take

a rubber band off of a ponytail, or remove a splinter from a finger."

God replied, "Relax. They’ll be just fine. They’re big enough to hold all the things that a young

boy takes out of his pocket at the end of the day, & they’re large enough to cup the face of a

child."

God continued on & He made the legs of a father - long & bony & hairy & not very attractive.

And then He made broad shoulders. The angel asked, "Lord, do you realize what you have done?

You have just made a father without a lap. How is he ever going to be able to hold a child close