They never grow up too fast

There have been times where I've said, "they grow up too fast".  If you have kids, you've said that, right?  I no longer believe it.

It's only "to fast" if you're not paying attention.  As a parent, I am in a perpetual battle to stay present and embrace every stage.

Nostalgia is good in small doses...but in large gulps it's intoxicating.  To much yearning for the past keeps us in the past.  

So I suppose it's not, "they grow up too fast" but "they grow up fast enough."  Fast enough gives me just enough time to enjoy every stage.

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You don't have to be a good parent.....

Someone once told me that you don't have to be a good parent but you do need to be willing to become one. He told me that at a time, with our first child on the way, when I wondered if I had what it took to really care for kids and live as a parable of Jesus in front of them.

His words took a lot of pressure off.

I want to become a great father.

but, "become" is the key word

It's a process for me

and I haven't arrived yet

but the process of becoming looks like trying

....and that, among all my MANY ugly faults,

...I am doing 

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Pregnancy Bod

Well, getting back into shape is not easy, that's for sure. It was actually easier to be fit when I was pregnant. It's such a slow recovery post delivery....which is challenging for people like Joe and I. Nothing we do is....slow.

But slow it must be. Listening to your body is important. And, it is coming along. We are starting to climb again, train, run, and dream of adventures.

We went to the gym the other night. Elizabeth slept the entire time we were there! It was a busy night at the gym, but we just put her in her car seat, and put her in the middle of the climbing gym...with all the noise around, and she never woke up once. People were chuckling about it. I suppose it's not too often that you see a baby sleeping at a climbing gym. Well, they better get used to it...

In other news...Joseph has been asking the question recently, "what does it really mean to become a good dad?" It's an ongoing conversation he's having with a lot of people who have kids. It was funny though, because this morning, I caught him reading this:

I laughed out loud...not sure if this is the answer he is looking for.

Decisions....

We are very decisive people. We make decisions, and run with them.

I like that about us. I like it that we choose to live our lives, or, maybe better put, the lives God gave us....decisively.

We value decisions made in the best possible manner...

Decisions based on wise thinking, wise friends, the Holy Spirit, wisdom from scripture, wise examples from others...

Sometimes the decisions we make are naive...but at least we make our own decisions....

There is huge freedom in "choice"...we have the choice for how to live the lives God gave us.

And now....in this approaching new season....we choose again: how to love each other, how to love a child, how to parent, how to have adventures (both personal and familial), how to be good friends to others...

...and in these things...and others....we will have to make decisions...

i like that