LEARNING to be a father is not as easy as picking up a manual, menALIVE co-founder and author of a new book for dads Robert Falzon said.
Mr Falzon has co-authored a new book, The Father Factor, set for release by Australian publishing company Connor Court later this year.
The menALIVE co-founder and father of four said the ministry team “have dedicated ourselves to working with men” for 11 years.
“In fact we have worked with 13,000 men, and our goal is to empower and equip men to be fully who they were made to be, especially fathers, (and grandfathers),” Mr Falzon said.
“We believe if we can reach the man we will reach the marriage, if we can reach the marriage we will reach the family, if we can reach the family we will reach the Church and if we can reach the Church we will reach the nation.”
Mr Falzon said in an extract of The Father Factor that the book would “help fathers to be better informed about their vitally important vocation”.
“The book has also been written with a view to helping sons, daughters, mothers and society restore the ground lost to them from poor father-child relationships,” he said.
“In the 31 years that I have been married to my wife, Alicia, we have given birth to four children – Isaac, Matthias, Chiara and Shem.
“The joys of fatherhood have been many.
“When I set out on the great adventure of fathering, however, I had no comprehension of what it would take to be the father I desired and dreamed to be.
“Nor did I know how I would go about fulfilling the great responsibility of raising sons and daughters into men and women.
“I was ill-equipped, idealistic and naïve – no training, no plan, no method, no instructions, no tools and no real sense of the staggering impact and generational imprint I would make in the most important task and vocation ever to be assigned to me.
“How would I do fathering?
“I received more instructions on how to set up our new Blu-ray DVD player with its two manuals (one written in five languages), warranties and a help-line, than anything that I had been given to be a father.
“This was like some high school science experiment where at any time something might just explode.
“Like it or not, my children were a great genealogical experiment.
“I am not alone in my lack of training for effective fatherhood.”
To all the men who are fathers trying to make a difference, Happy Fathers Day – you are not alone.
For more information about menALIVE visit www.menalive.org.au
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