Teddy James

AFA Journal staff writer

June 2014 – When I was a kid, my father had to leave for an extended period of time for his work in the military. While he was gone, he sent me several letters. I kept those letters, and they are treasured possessions today. Even though I don’t have to leave my children for long stretches of time, I want to hand them letters I pray will one day become treasures for them. – Teddy James

Dear Luke, 
When I first held you in my arms last October I felt the most tremendous sense of pride and fear. Pride because I now had two beautiful children to call my own. Fear because I knew there is now a little man looking to me to learn what being a man is all about. After much prayer and study, I feel led to commit myself to doing several things with you:

• to encourage you in whatever sport or extracurricular endeavor you want to pursue, as long as it’s baseball, but I will not define you by success or failure (nor will I allow you to);
• to teach you that manliness is not based on physical strength or sexual prowess, but on character, integrity, respect, love of family and most importantly love of God;
• to be your biggest cheerleader, your most devoted coach and your most honest fan;
• to push you to do your absolute best at whatever you choose to do and teach you to do all things “as working for the Lord, not for human masters” (Colossians 3:23);
• to spend hours under the hoods of our cars teaching you a trade and teaching you about life;
• to protect you from the evil of this world while teaching you to stand against it;
• to have difficult conversations with you about your sexual purity. This is not only to protect you, but also to protect the virtue and innocence of every girl you have a relationship with;
• to tell you I love you every day, even when you think you are too old to hear it;
• to read the Scriptures to you every day and model how to walk with Jesus;
• to pray with you and over you daily, thanking God that He chose to bless our family with you;
• to love your mother as Christ loves the church, and to train you in preparation for being a husband one day;
• to not compare you or your sister to each other, or any other kid;
• to show you patience as you grow and learn what being a man and a Christian is all about;
• to be honest and confess when I fail in keeping all these promises all the time. But I ask for your forgiveness and patience. I’m still learning what it means to be a Christian and a man myself.

Love, 
Dad