What's A Father To Do?

I am at this writing, the father of an 18 year old and 16 year old, so it is interesting times around the Felts household. One thing that I have been experiencing lately is the time in my kid's lives where I don't appear to be as needed as I used to be. I'm sure that it happens to every dad at some point in their lives, yet this is one of those things that I again, did not see coming.

When your kids are little, daddy is their world. I remember coming home from work one day for lunch, and Micah (maybe like 2 years old) was in his room laying on the floor playing with some of his toys. I was fixing to head back to the store, but decided to take a minute and play with him. So I laid down on the floor with him and just did what he was doing, for like 2 minutes. The smile on his face was huge as I left him playing, and I realized that it really doesn't take much to show your kids that you love them, just a little time.

My daughter (who turned 16 yesterday) used to come and sit in my lap for endless hours when she was little. She would climb right up onto my recliner and just get snuggled in beneath my arm. And we would talk or just sit there while she played. I would find myself looking forward to getting home so that we could spend a little time together.

Now, if I see either of my kids for more than 10 minutes at a time, I feel blessed. Now don't misunderstand me, I'm not complaining. They are both growing up, and they have begun to exhibit lives that are busy with friends, work and all the stuff that they are starting to experience. I just find myself not knowing what my part is anymore. It's like now, I'm just to be in the background of their lives instead of the main focus of their lives. And yes, that is a part of growing up I realize, but it is hard when you've been the center of their universe and then all of a sudden you're not any more. Maybe that's why they get married and produce grand babies, so we can help them again. (Not that I'm looking for that anytime soon!)

One of the things that has made this hard, is that I am hard-wired with the desire to help people, it's what I live to do. So my kids wanting to show me that they can do everything on their own almost makes me feel insignificant. Okay, so maybe I am whining a little here, I love my kids and want to help them and don't feel like I get to do that anymore. I've had to force myself to just be quiet and wait for them to come to me, and that is a hard thing for me to do, one that doesn't always happen, and usually ends up in a heated conversation, but I am trying.

I don't like this time in my life very well, I'll just be honest. But I do realize that it is a necessary thing in the development of my kids, and I want them to be the best at what God has for them to do and become, so I'll play my role and take a back seat to my desires and wait for them to seek me out. It won't be easy, but then the good things in this life never come easy do they?

Get 'em up folks, let's go out and whip something for the Kingdom today!