What does it take to be a father?

"It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father." - Pope John XXIII

"It is much easier to become a father than to be one." - Kent Nerburn

I have asked myself that question quite a lot recently. However, before you jump to multiple conclusions Natalie is not pregnant, or at least we don't know if she is or isn't. Besides that I have wanted to be a father for a very long time and for a very long time I have wondered if, when the time comes, will I have what it takes. Millions of children are born to parents that have no right raising pets let alone human being, am I somehow better or worthy? What makes me different that I deserve to be a father to somebody that will someday have the ability to choose or deny God. Someone wiser than me once said that it is a great and frightening authority God has given us, to bring eternal people into the world. I have seen good fathers and I have experienced bad ones, I have seen the product of lazy, neutral, submissive, non existent fathers. The one thing I do understand quite well is the importance of a dad. When I see people that I wish to label as good fathers, I see one undeniable quality and it is not money or the financial security that they provide for their family, it is their trust in God. It is a trust in the father that I do not grasp but is tangibly seen. I understand that I know nothing when it comes to parenting or just about anything concerning raising children for that matter, but pray that God has patience on me, because I sure do want to try.