Throughout the existence of the Father, among the greatest of experiences in His life is the birth and life of a son. They say every soul faces extreme challenges at least at one point in its life where the very fabric of life and death are placed at our door leaving only ourselves and God, no exception to this as my firstborn son Carter enters the world being challenged and having to fight for the very breath God would have for him in this life immediately and almost to early physically to overcome, not once but multiple times in his earliest infancy and youth? 

What can a Father do but merely sit, observe, and pray for the young child as he watches with his own pleadings to the Heavenly Father for the overcoming of these attacks that have plagued His child at such a young age? God is good, and the young child does overcome and grows into a boy who demonstrates on more than one occasion the attributes of “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger” constantly throughout his early life and continues today, being a beacon of strength to not only friends but all around him. 

Where did he get it from? Almost as early as reports started coming in from teachers and casual observers, it became clear that this young son possessed a level of honor and kindness that surpassed any instruction, prompting or experiential observation; never did he pass on an opportunity to help someone in need or set a wrong right, even if it went against the popular beliefs of friends or society. Truth, it would appear, had never been an issue or choice for this young man, but a simple constant in which regardless of the issues placed against him, his own choice of what resided in his heart was as constant and solid as stone.

My own name Peter which derives from the root word Petros, which mean rock or stone, while it was my desire to also name my firstborn son after the same name my ancestors had called their firstborn sons before me for centuries Peter, the mother would not have it, having her own desires for a name she did. But even more so than I may have some qualities emphasized by this name, clearly, the greatest attributes of the Rock have been demonstrated already repeatedly and without deviation in my young son, and apparently, he is just getting started.

We are taught, that while our earthly names do have influences on our lives, God the Father has a name for each and every one of His children that He reveals someday? I myself have been blessed in having Him reveal to me already in my life this name, and would venture to say such a name is not merely the product of whimsical fabrications of parents on this earth but the personifications of the purposes and responding callings we fulfill in this life given us by the Father Himself. 

Now my son has become a man, or so as defined by the society we live in today, being his eighteenth birthday, but in this humble father’s opinion, this boy has been a man for many, many years now. A man is not defined by age, accomplishment, or concept, but by the burdens and responsibilities he freely lifts to his shoulders in his quest to fulfill his own calling by God. By that definition, this boy has been a man for many years.

How does a Father express to a son, the level of love, the gratitude of being his father, or the level of pride of knowing and watching such a lad grow from a perfect child to a man of such honor and integrity it brings a tear to my eye, it almost lingers beyond my ability to put in words, except to say; I thank God, for no man has been blessed with a better son, and I am proud of you Carter every moment you have been on earth and will be unto eternity. 

“You are a Rock”

Happy Birthday

Your Father

By Peter Colla

A new excerpt from a soon to be released book; “A Fathers Love”