When am I a Dad?

One of the challenges I experience as a Salvation Army Officer is the diversity in children. I'm not talking racially as much as personally. Some come from broken homes, some never knew a Father. Some have siblings while none of the children have the same Father. Some are angry, some are subdued. Some are bullies, some are bullied, many feel rejected, all want attention. This brings a mixture of personalities and issues...and then there are my own children.

It is easy for Christi and me to organize our children within the group, but what happens when my child is subject to bullying or the instigator of naughtiness. Yesterday I went outside of our building to find my 10 year old daughter lying in the fetal position, sobbing. This Father went to his daughter, held her, and asked her what happened. It turns out that three of the children in our program contributed to her condition with little or no apparent provocation from our daughter. As a Dad, my impulse was to take the other children to task...but I can't do that because I don't want the other children to see me separate my children as special (although, naturally, they are). The outcome was, I did nothing except advise my daughter on handle such situations in the future.

I constantly remind myself that I am the Father to many children. I am a role model, I am a disciplinarian, I am a Christian and I need to show love. At the Corps I cannot separate my own children from the rest for the benefit of my children and for the benefit of the ministry. God did not give His Son special dispensation. God did not put a protective wall around Jesus, nor did He strike dead any man that opposed His Son. God allowed His Son to be subject to the forces of the world, no matter what the cost, and He knew Jesus could take it.

I have to teach my own children that the world is a hard and imperfect place, and I cannot teach them that that by protecting them from its realities. I have to advise and guide them through it, and sometimes allow them to get hurt so they can be more aware in the future. It's hard being a Dad, but thank God for His example.