Fatherly Figureheads: Community leaders share takes on parenthood – J. Micheal Evans ­— Centerville City Council

Father’s Day is a time to celebrate the leaders who shape our families, and often times, our decisions. We caught up with local leaders on the city, county and state levels, who not only make decisions in the home, but also in the community. They share their experience, lessons learned along the way and advice. To all fathers, we show our appreciation and wish each and every family a happy Father’s Day.

CENTERVILLE, Ga. — With a daughter and two grandchildren, Centerville Councilman J. Micheal Evans has gained a great amount of insight from his fatherhood experience.

Evans said from the beginning, fatherhood means setting a good example and helping children grow into the best person they can be.

“They start off, of course, as a little baby and they’re just such a sponge; they absorb everything. So, they’re watching you. And those little kids as they grow up, they see you and they want to be like you. So as far as fatherhood is concerned, you have to be an example. The kind of example that you would want to see come out of your kids,” Evans said.

As his family grew, Evans has now become a grandparent, and it is just as fulfilling for him as parenthood, even more so, he said. He added that he is now better prepared to help guide his grandchildren from his experience raising his daughter.

“It’s nothing like coming home and having a child to meet you and their eyes light up. And the first thing they want to do is give you a hug and a kiss. It makes you feel loved; it makes you feel wanted and it encourages you to want to hurry up and get home,” Evans said.

With his daughter now an adult, he has learned to let her make her own decisions but will always be there if she needs help. He had a similar experience with his parents as he left home and joined the Air Force.

“I don’t want to see her make the same mistakes that I’ve made. The thing that I do is I try to sit back and let her go and make her decisions and live her life,” Evans said. “But then if there is something that goes wrong and she comes to me, we can talk about it and help her figure out what she needs to do to get past it.”

Evans’s responsibilities stretch past his family, with a seat in City Council and a full time job at Robins Air Force Base. To achieve balance, Evans said it all comes down to priorities, with his main being his family, his church, his job and the City of Centerville.

His advice to fathers is time moves fast, so love your children as they grow and teach them to show love as well.

“You’re going to look up one day and they’re going to be 15 years old. And hopefully, you have been able to love them and spend time with them as they’re growing up, because it’s going to get to a point where they’re not going to want to spend as much time with you because they’re going to want to be with their friends,” Evans said. “So love them, teach them, put stuff in them because as they get older, the stuff that you put in them is going to come out.”

In time, that loving nature will lead to growth, as Evans explained.

Evans said, “One of the most important things is you have to love your children for who they are. Try to help them be better but let them grow. Let them be planted and let them grow.”

HHJ News