Encouragement for a father to be

I recently came across this blog post and it was definitely encouraging for me as I prep for the journey of fatherhood.  It’s crazy to think that our lives will look different in so many ways.  I can only see life from my current perspective and past perspective and can’t come close to imagining the new adventure that lies ahead.  I know that God promises that what lies ahead will be good (Psalm 127_3-5), but to see that in a tangible right now is fuzzy in my mind.  I came across the below blog post that really helped to readjust my view.

” many young people of my generation want to delay traditionally “adult” responsibilities in pursuit of “experiences”–travel, games, sports, shopping, and forms of indulgence of one’s natural interests. I like those things as much as the next guy, but I can tell you from my very limited experience as a husband and a dad that there is not a two-week vacation in the world that compares with fatherhood. Yesterday I snapped some pictures of my daughter when she was smiling; today, though an unsentimental man who usually cares little for pictures of babies, I looked at them over and over and over. My daughter is a little wonder. She is beautiful and (mostly) full of sweetness. Her smile can be heartbreaking. I see it, looking at it time and again on my phone, and I know what evil there is in the world–and sadly, lurking in her heart–and I yearn for her not to taste it. Such innocence, and yet such evil awaits.

This fills out my original point: just looking at my daughter’s smile blows away experiences I’ve previously loved–playing a good game of basketball, reading a good book, whatever. Parenting a child is an astounding thing. Yes, it’s hard. It is. No two ways about it. But it’s also the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done, and I’m only at the two-month stage, where my precious baby girl can barely smile. When she smiles at me, or plays little games with my hands as she sits on my lap, or makes strange sounds that sounds like a cat lifting off for extraterrestrial investigation, she reaches an area of my heart that nothing has ever touched. Spending time with one’s child brings one to a joy that cannot be reached otherwise, like a language one cannot speak without countless hours of study.

If you want an “experience”, then, don’t look for it in things, in passing, fading things of this world. If you’re married, or are likely going to be married, look for it in the most significant physical thing a person can do, God willing: create (or adopt) a child. Create a tribe of children. You’ll gain joy for yourself that you could not otherwise ever touch in this life. You’ll do something far more significant than anything work or play will allow you to do. You’ll leave a legacy in the form of a child, a living person, not a piece of paper or a deed to be spoken of. Vacations are fun, and books and movies and time with friends is great, but if you seek significance, and transcendence, and deep, untouchable joy, try children, the oldest, most traditional form of earthly delight.”

Read the whole post here