So many young dads in my generation are flying blind. I suppose that’s true of dads in every generation, but hear me out. Many of us have no idea what we’re doing. Maybe we didn’t have a dad in our lives when we were kids, or the dad we did have… well, he wasn’t quite the person we’d want to emulate. I know of a handful of guys who want to be like their dads, which is really cool.
But the truth is, most of us are faking it till we make it. And I especially feel this way when one of the kids will tell me, “Daddy, you’re the best daddy in the whole world.”
I mean, I’m hardly a perfect dad. I get short with the kids more often than I should. There are times when I struggle to engage and be present. I don’t always choose my words carefully enough and wind up hurting their feelings. I spend a lot of time asking forgiveness for how I’ve sinned against them. And yet, somehow, in their eyes, I’m the best daddy in the whole world.
I hope my kids never stop believing this, and not just because I hope I never do anything to make them stop believing it (although I do). No, I hope they never stop being gracious people. Or rather, loving people. That they never stop remembering that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love is what fills in the gaps for us as dads who are flying blind. Love covers our sins as parents in their eyes. And love is what spurs us on to be the kind of dads our kids need, by the grace of God—dads who put Jesus first in the home, and who love them and their moms as best as we know how.
I’m going to blow it. I know I will. I’ll mess up and fail and fall short. But those nine words are life giving, both to them and to me. I hope they believe them forever.
