So, this is what a “Coming Out” is like, eh?

I don’t mean out of a closet. I mean like a cotillion or a premier. Lance asked me, let’s see that was THREE weeks ago, if I’d write a weekly insert on Legacy Dad. “Sure,” thinking that for a talker-writer that would be easy. Not so. He said I had to write about, you know, uplifting, godly stuff that would inform, encourage, challenge, maybe even light fires.

Inauspicious beginings give hope for a brighter future. I entered this piece as a reply rather than the core upload. Slow, but humble, learner.

OK, getting to it. I hope it can set a spark for that fire thing.

Here’s what I will be talking about: Fathering. Especially partner-fathering. (Typically, you followed that phrase with a quiet “Huh?!”). Yeah, that’s when we dads discover we can NOT do best the fathering thing any more than we can do any other important thing alone. Pole vaulting and eight seconds on Bodacious are solo achievements. But the best stuff of our lives is usually done together. Even fathering.

My take on it is that bringing both new ideas (plenty of parenting books out there) and old ones (like grandfather ones) are the best way to go. That would mean new fathers and old ones. It really is a team sport. Serious and fun at the same time.

Now, why? Why will I talk most about fathering? Because it’s me. This spot is where I talk about myself first time and last so it won’t clog future contributions.

“Popi, you’re really old.” That’s a quote from my middle of five grandwonderkids. Being a dad and grand dad is first. Well, just behind my Walk with God alongside my spouse of 45 fresh years. In quick succession let me tell you what ingredients from my life spill in to the cake mix. Wheaton grad in journalism and football, then Navy’s hottest fighter pilot (at least for the 30 mano-a-mano seconds it took to bag a MiG), Campus Crusader, pastor (two years was all it took to discover my non-gift), Pentagon medium light-weight (came back out of the reserves, made captain after being on President Reagan’s aide staff), co-founding one large and three small mission agencies then one large and three small global businesses to serve as missions platforms in Muslim countries.

Last chapter of my many has shaped more of my profile than the others; I came out of the closet…as the cowboy I’d always been. Bought a mountain ranch in Colorado and became the long-haired rancher-cowboy I am today. This is where the family drama unfolds and where the basis for the book was laid that my soninlaw, Matt, and I are writing. He’s the Marriage and Family Therapist. He knows stuff. I just write stuff. Our book: Generational Fathering. We’re putting up the first run of our book web site this week (we’d love you to take part there and here, both) is www.GenerationalFathering.com . We’ve just begun serious writing, and the blog site invites your participation.

The most produced play in our history, Our Town, is about every one of those moments and people we didn’t value while we were present with them. Even Twittering can’t seem to capture them. But our heart does. And leaving behind a legacy, a dad's legacy, is learning to capture the value of the moments we live and the people most significant to us and those on whom we make the most impact.

Where I will drop in on you, fairly frequently, is working on relationships between fathers and between generations. This mantra will overlay a hope that we each as fathers can leave our legacy to bring about good and godly children who will replicate the holy work of fathering for generation after generation.

This being my innaugural, would you mind writing back a quickie to give me hints of your interest and, perhaps, of your potential interaction on these Legacy Dad topics?