People often admit that they learned more about themselves from getting married than from any other time/experience they’ve had. It wasn’t like that for me. Heather and I had a relative easy adjustment (well I did… she still trying to figure out how to put up with me) to married life. BUT having kids… that’s another story. I learned more about myself, life and about God from being a parent than any other time/experience in my life.
He is a great article from a dad who says, “I’ve learned a lot of unexpected things over those four years. But while these practical things exposed my ignorance, it is an altogether different and more spiritual series of fatherhood-related epiphanies that truly astound me.”
Two quotes caught my attention: one on God knowing whats best for me even though it might not make sense to me, “maybe the most important thing I learned about God from having kids was this: Even when they don’t believe it, dad (and mom) knows best. Again, this isn’t a perfect analogy, since I’m not omniscient. But it’s a safe bet that I know what’s better for my 3 year old than he does”
and the at the end of this quote about how silly it is to hold on to temporal things, “Another thing I discovered is that G.K. Chesterton was right when he asserted that original sin was the only part of Christian theology that could be proved. Sure, we love our kids, but they can be bad and annoying. And sometimes they can do or say downright mean things. I remember watching my kids fight over some petty little toy — watching them be selfish and refuse to share with others — and thinking how inherently human this was (they didn’t learn this from anyone) — but also how meaningless and pathetic it is for any of us try to hold on to something so temporal and superficial — something that could be easily snatched away from them at any moment, just as I could snatch up that silly toy.”
Happy Fathers Day
