Father's heart

I was watching my son make something today,  he was crafting it very carefully making things look perfect.  He was making a peanut butter and honey sandwich   for lunch and he wanted to do it himself so I let him.  He put a lot more effort than I would have into it but he was careful he wanted this sandwich for himself.
This made me think about how carefully and perfectly out father is crafting us, making us for that perfect time when we can dwell together again.  God is not sparing in his attention to detail and he does not worry if he has to spend extra time on making us perfect.
We can all learn from this as fathers (ad mothers).  Let us never be in a rush to mature and train our children let us be fully aware that to perfect something takes time especially if we want it to turn out well.

Quentin Osborn  

Strength of fathering.

  Men are abandoning their girlfriends and wives and a huge rate in todays world. the man is no longer being in the house and women are starting to say do we even need a man?  This is the question I have for you today because I want to point out that a father is a part of the strength that every young person growing up needs in their life.
  the father's role is vital to the growth of a child.  In Proverbs Solomon talks to his son throughout the book.  Every child needs a father to bring wisdom in their decision making process.  In my own experience I find when my father is around I make much less rash decisions vs when he is not their I tend to jump the gun in the decision making process.
  the father is an integral key to child rearing and cannot be a lost art deemed unecassary by a post modern world.
More to come on this topic.

Quentin Osborn
  

Pro-child

   Since this is my first post I am going to introduce my boys quickly.   First I have Oliver who is 4 and smart as a whip, Silas is in the middle by 20 minutes and likes to bulldoze through things he let's nothing in his way and we have Gideon who is now in the middle with Silas as of 4 months ago who loves to do puzzles and amaze his father.   

   Now that I have introduced my boys and I, I want to talk a little bit about the blessing that children are. I currently live in a society that looks at children as a curse.  I do not know how many times people have came up to me in the grocery store see the twins and say "you must have your hands full" or "They must be trouble" I usually laugh to myself and think they have no idea how wonderful children are.  My children at 4 and 2 years old do more work than most grown men do,  My 4 yr old does breakfast dishes, wipes the table off, takes garbage out and compost, plus whatever other jobs I might need help with and works on his school which includes Math, Writing, Letter identification, Bible and learning Koine Greek.  My twins pick up (and dump out) the toys 2-3 times a day, they also help Oliver with the dishes occasionally, and carry things to the car for their mama when they go to town.  Saying all this I know a grown man usually does more than this in a day but comparatively to their size and education.  Yesterday I was digging out a window well so we could fit a window that would be up to fire code.  My boys helped me by taking their buckets and letting me fill them up and than they would dump their bucket and I was able to move a 3x5 space of dirt about 12 inches deep.  Without their help I would not have been able to move that much dirt.  The Amish have a saying that a 3-7 year old is a burden, a 7-14 is a help and 14-18/20 should be producing an additional income. I do not want to be an oppressive father that never has fun with his sons because that would be a lie.  I want my boys to grow up and do all that they put their minds to I want them to understand Solomon and his wisdom writings that are talking about hard work.           

  children are not a burden, they do require work and the key is selflessness. This brings me to my next point that is children give us opportunity to pick up our cross. We get so consumed by our own lives and things we want to do, the ministry we want to run, the hobbies we want to have.  Why would I want a kid to mess that up?  I have heard people try to tell me they are so happy to be single without kids "to much work" they say.  I am going to surround myself with biological and adopted children and if that causes me to lay down my desires, dreams or goals I will gladly do it.  My boys bring me to a place I could never go as a single man I can truly stand at the gates of the city and I will be defended by my boys.  

  I think of Mary mother of Jesus, would she be willing to give up a career or ministry if Mary lived in this age.  We have a high calling to raise children in this time even when it is unpopular.  I heard a man named Randy Bohlander say once "The church cannot be pro-life until it is pro-child."