Three Fathers

An idea for a book came to me the other day while I was in Walmart. I am not sure why it came to my mind when it did, however, it was a eureka moment. For many years I have been thinking about writing a memoir or some other type of book related to my life. I actually have about 100 pages of a book already written that came from blogs. A lot of what I wrote about was about my birth father and letters he had written to my grandmother when he was in the Army during a time in which we lived in Houston before he died. However, I have struggled with writing about my life after this when I became a foster child and then adopted by the Barnett's. Then it came to me. Write about the three fathers I have had and how each one affected me in a different way. The three fathers are Ronald Hutchinson, my birth father; Ed Barnett, my adopted father; and Father God; my eternal father.

One of my favorite quotes is from the philosopher Nietzsche. He said, "When one has not had a good father, he must create one." One of the themes of the book will be how I have tried to create a father which has led me to be the kind of father I am to my own children. The question driving the book might be, "how has each father shaped my life?" The reader could then extrapolate how their father or fathers has shaped their life and as a result may be a factor in how they view God - if they even think of him as a father or not.

It is my feeling now that this idea will germenate and the words will begin to flow. At least that is what I am hoping for.