The First Time You Felt Like a Real Dad

It wasn’t the court date.

Or the paperwork.

Or the moment someone called me “Dad.”

It was when he reached for my hand in public.

Not because he had to — but because he wanted to.

That was it.

That moment cracked something open in me.

It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t public.

But it was real.

I realized then that being a father isn’t about biology.

It’s about being chosen — sometimes silently — by a child who has every reason not to trust you.

That’s when it hit me:

This is what God does for us.

He shows up again and again…

Until, one day, we reach back.