My Dear Sons, Marcio and Marcos Tiago,
You are my “Timothys” and I treasure that in my heart as gifts from God. It is a privilege not only to be your dad but also your coach and mentor throughout our lives. As you know discipleship is something I consider fundamentally necessary to grow in Him. Being disciples we are accountable to each other, and ultimately to Jesus. He is our Master.
You are real presents that mom and I are so grateful to educate you in the displine of the Lord. Only Him would know how much time, love, grace, care, mercy and everything else we understand being needed to invest in this quest, but it has been worthy.
My hope is that you are going to take advantage of all lessons, good and bad, I’ve been trying to pass on to you. They are part of a life. The good ones I am absolutely sure they came from God’s Word. Therefore I urge you to be always diligent to learn for the Bible the principles you need to live. The bad ones are part of our sinful and selfish nature, but we can count on God’s grace and mercy that teach us to see the good size of those not so good experiences. So read, meditate, understand, and apply the Word constantly until the end of your lives.
Be FAT men! I learned long ago that a godly man has to be a FAT guy. FAT is the acrostic for Faithful, Availabe and Teachable. You need those three characteristics to be useful in God’s hands. You have to get the three of them, not one or two. A man who is faithful to God, must to be available to Him and teachable by Him. Probe yourself on these three aspects and see if you pass. I’ve seen some guys that I have invested some time in their lives but they are going astray from God, because they are not teachable.
Do not be religious, but be in a passionate relationship with our Lord. Remember always to be merciful, righteous and walk constantly with Him. You can’t go wrong applying that. The relationship you have with your wives and children is a good start to demonstrate what you are learning from your relationship with God. If you don’t have a good relationship with God you are going to fail in your relationship with your family.
Be consistently transparent (sincere and honest) and don’t be ashamed to ask forgiveness for your mistakes and foolish words or actions you eventually make. People will understand you. But do not abuse. Enough is enough. Know when is time to think before you act, eh? I know I am still learning that. I know!!!
Live a prayerful life. Before you ask anything to anybody, go to God first. Learn how to live by Faith.
Don’t forget to laugh. Don’t forget to love. Don’t forget to say thanks.
Be a blessing and be blessed.
I am totally and eternally in love with you.
From you favorite dad,
Armando C. Padovan
VIVA BRASIL INTEGRATION