Dadhood

It's funny how the prospect of becoming a parent causes you to come to grips with the reality of the flaws and inconsistencies in your character. At least it does in mine. I'm not perfect, and I'll be the first to admit it. And fortunately, God pours out his grace upon me every single day. But thinking about and preparing for stay-at-home-dad-hood is forcing me to face those flaws and inconsistencies head on.

There are areas of my life that, quite honestly, I don't want my son to become like. Maybe God created parenthood because it forces us to grow in areas where we otherwise may have let fall by the wayside. This is not to say that I want my son to think I'm perfect, because I don't. I want him to see some of my flaws so that he understands the grace of God. But I also don't want to sit around and think that I'm absolved of all responsibility to grow as an individual, because certain areas of growth will benefit the betterment of my child. What kind of parent would I be if I didn't take the years of experience that I've already been given and lavish it upon my son? He deserves that, and I've been entrusted with that responsibility.

So here's to growth. May those of us who are parents or are becoming parents continue to look at our lives and see where we can grow so that our children grow with us, while at the same time remembering the grace of God which pours itself into our imperfect lives so that we can share and show the same grace to our children.

Four weeks tomorrow!