Parenthood



Father's Day is tomorrow and Mother's Day wasn't very long ago and it's crazy to think that Kim and I have a daughter now.  When I actually think about the responsibility, it's mind blowing.  But, it's also the most amazing thing I've ever experienced.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, to see Elise being born was...well, it's kind of indescribable.  I was telling Kim that all of my life I would hear people talking about what a "miracle" a birth is.  And, I guess a small part of me believed it, but honestly, I would more or less pass it off.  "Yeah, right.  A miracle.  Babies are cool and all..."  But, when Elise was born, it definitely took me into miracle mode.  What an awesome process that God has designed.

Now that we've entered into parenthood, it's a whole new world for us.  We went from watching a TV show each night before bed, doing what we wanted when we wanted to do it, and going where we wanted to go when we wanted to go to coming to an abrubt halt.  Now, if we watch TV; well, we don't watch TV anymore.  We sleep or Kim gets things cleaned up a little if we get Elise to sleep.  If we need to do something or go somewhere, we have to adjust around Elise's feeding schedule.  But, even though it's changed things a lot, I still wouldn't trade it for anything.

Now, as parents, Kim and I find our joy in the most ridiculous things.  Elise was having issues with constipation some kind of terrible for a while.  Then, she had a barium test to check for reflux which magnified the constipation.  During this time, we were feeding her prune juice in every bottle and just waiting for a poop.  So, for a while, anytime she pooped we were like cheerleaders at a state championship game.  No, seriously, if I was changing her and found she had pooh in the diaper, I would yell to Kim, "We have a pooper!!"  Kim would be all like, "Yay!  Is it a big one?"  I wish I got an applause like that for my poops!  Yeah, life has changed.

Change is good though in this case.  We love being around Elise and getting to know her personality as she grows.  We mimic her noises.  We laugh at her mannerisms.  We get to enjoy the gift that God has given us.  And although we definitely don't seek to watch her grow up too fast, we do look forward to seeing her grow and interact with us more.  I was telling Kim the other day that probably one of my best memories of a kid growing up was playing football with my dad and brother.  My dad would be the quarterback and he would position himself between me (if I was on offense) and my brother, on defense.  Then, he would use his finger to draw a play on his belly.  My brother and I loved doing this out in the yard before we go in for the night.  I look forward to making memories with Elise.  I look forward to playing ball, talking about her day at school, helping her with homework, looking at receipts from where she and her mom went shopping...

One last thought:

From a dad's perspective, I feel challenged in so many ways.  I'm challenged to take care of her the best that I can in every way possible.  I'm challenged to live like Jesus so that she will see that.  I'm challenged to give her (and Kim) the best of my time, efforts, and emotions.  In my days of being connected in various ministries (although not very long, but not a short time either) I have seen countless dads give their children the leftovers.  This isn't to say that their dads didn't love them, but they just desired to invest in something else other than their children.  And this isn't to be a critic, because we're all guilty of it to some degree, it's just after having observed some pretty rough cases, it makes me want to live better for my daughter.  Just like when we tell someone hungry that we'll pray for them but offer no food, our children don't need us to be all talk.  They need us to invest in them.  Our time, our emotions, our lives.  I want to be that dad.  I know I won't be a perfect dad, and at times I will fall miserably on my face, but, as cliche as it might sound, that's what Jesus is for.  He was perfect where I fail.  And that's the ultimate principle I want her to grasp from the way I live: that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He's the answer to the sin in the world.  He's the reason that I am the man I am today.  My hope and prayer is that God will mold her into a wonderful person far more generous, loving, serving, caring, kind, compassionate, and patient than I am.

Also, Happy Father's Day to the dads and grandpas, papas, and pawpaws in our lives:

James McKendree, Mike Ihle, Mark Harvey, Randall McKendree, John Ihle, John Reeves, & Vernon Harvey.

Let's not forget our brothers who are dads as well: Byron McKendree and Kevin Ihle.