You could never tell me to touch a lion before I had a child (Psalm 127:3-5). But for my son’s birthday, I had my intentional encounters with wild animals including petting lions, holding a snake, holding an iguana, carrying a tortoise, and holding a vicious young crocodile among many others. The Bible is clear about the role of a husband and father. I am the priest of the home, provider and protector. I accepted this God-assigned role and will continue to do my best with God guiding me.
If you are interested in how I got to these animals, here is a story about the plan. Grab your coffee, and tea, get in a comfortable chair and let me take you with me on the journey and creative mind.
In 2022, I was unable to join you Awesome on your birthday (Psalm 37:4). Months before your birthday, I planned the best way to share the joy with you show my affection and reaffirm my love for you fully in my role assigned by God. I had not hiked a mountain ever in my life until 2022 I went out on a trip with people that were hiking Mt. Muhavura in Kisoro district. I didn’t make it to the summit that day but I was sure I would get there for my son’s birthday (Joshua 1:9). A month before your birthday, I booked my leave days and saved up money for the trip.
When the day came, I got into my car, a 1993 Toyota Starlet EP82 turbo manual transmission and set off from Kampala to Kisoro, a distance of over 488km. On the way, I stopped over in a district where my mother stays and had a meal with her, and proceeded to Mbarara city where I had my second break and went straight to Kisoro. Upon arrival, I spent the night at the base camp of Mt. Muhabura. In the morning, I went up to the starting point and started the hike. Before the first marked resting point, I took a break as you can see in the video. Hiking is not for the weak and will instil discipline.
As I recorded the hike, I wanted to give up but I knew I had to be fearless and strong for Awesome to have a memorable birthday that crowns my love and be a man he can look up to when he needs a role model as God designed (1 Corinthians 16:13). When I reached the summit, I was filled with gratitude but my body was torn and I had pain in all kinds of ways. I knew I had to walk back down and that was a big task. When I watched the video with you Awesome on your birthday, you couldn’t help but laugh at me in moments when I was physically exhausted. I was glad that this inspired you to go on a hike at a young age and shared the video with me. I thank God for my wife and your mother.
Having hiked a mountain for the first time and raised a banner wishing you Awesome a happy birthday, I knew I had to top this for your birthday in 2023. I wanted to go water rafting with a flag custom-made for your birthday. We share a birth month and as your father, I am very proud of you and grateful for God’s love and provision. June is equally a very busy month of the year at work and this time around, I could not secure my leave due to work at the office that needed all hands on deck. I was very hurt and crushed at the realization that I was unable to do something special for you my son.
Early that year, I had sold my car and was looking for an old Mercedes G-Wagon to take on the road and conquer terrain the Toyota Starlet could not handle. As I was troubled by how I was going to share and make this day special, God reminded me of the blessing of my role as a priest of my family, provider, and protector. As a priest of the family, I knew this is what I would do for your birthday in 2023, I had to dedicate you to God, my son, in prayer. So on your birthday, I got on a boda boda and went to All Saints Church Nakasero and dedicated you in prayer (Proverbs 22:6). A boda boda is a motorcycle taxi here in Uganda. As you watched in this video, I documented my journey in the drizzle from home to church where I dedicated you to God in prayer. You know I love you and I am proud of you.
So this year 2024, I had to celebrate you in a special way and I had to be fearless to make you a birthday video (Colossians 3:23). The idea was to make a t-shirt that would be used as a checklist and video script. So I looked for a good t-shirt but could not find it until I walked into a shop by the road and found one that would work. I picked it up and ran to the computer to design the shirt graphics. I put together some characters for the shirt from your favorite cartoons to the Father’s Day cards you made for me and the animals I was going to interact with.
When the graphic was ready, I drove late to the Charm Towers where the printing company was. The process took longer than expected but finally the t-shirt was ready. I left and filled up the car with fuel on the way home. Early the next morning, I set off for the CTC Conservation Center where I had booked to spend time with the animals. The goal was to tick off animals that were on my shirt and each animal I was with, I would wish you a happy birthday. That is how this birthday video came into being on my TikTok and YouTube.
To make you happy son and fulfill my God-assigned role, I had to overcome my fear (Philippians 4:13). I had bought a new car which is a testimony to an answered prayer. I will tell you the story of the car on another day. For this article, I was sharing with you how fearless I have become over the years for your sake Awesome and the generation of children to come (2 Timothy 1:7). I entirely trust God for the way to parent you because His word, the Bible, shows me how to do it. I pray for you and my wife every day for the favor of God and provision to be upon you. I have said it in one of my messages to you but I will say it again.
Having you, son, redefined pain and love for me. I pursue my salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13) so that God can use me as a vessel and make me fearless to fulfill my role in the family as a father. I am grateful for the opportunity to pray with you and the way you have looked up to me as your role model. God will make you stronger and better than I am (Deuteronomy 31:6). We will be a fearless generation and break all curses in the name of Jesus. The devil will not be happy with this but remember you were created in God’s image. My pursuit of this fearlessness has not come easily but I am certain God is in control.
For you my child, I am fearless.
The End.
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Tukundane Yonna 
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