Lovin’ the Journey

Wow!!  What a 4th of July!!  Baby Matthew ended up arriving 11 days early on July 4th.  I had really forgotten how awesome a child birth is.  And to happen on the 4th of July…how cool.

Been a little busy lately helping Becki with the babies at home so the posts may be a little slower for a while.

What an awesome Father’s Day!!  Becki and Andrew (he’s almost 3 yrs. old) definitely made this a great Father’s Day for me.  It started last night when Becki sent Andrew to the bedroom to fetch my gift…a wireless router!  Wow, now I can sit in my easy chair and blog.  Now that Matthew (due in July) has what was my office, my desk has been relocated to our bedroom (I think Becki finally got tired of me on the computer late at night while she tries to sleep).

 Anyway, today then started out with the family going to Church.  We then went to Clanton to my aunt Deb’s where she and my mom had prepared a feast.  Wow, the diet went out the window today.  On the way back home this afternoon, out of the blue Andrew yell’s out “Happy Father’s Day daddy”…not sure where that came from, but that definitely capped-off a perfect day. 

 I also had some time today to reflect on fatherhood and what it means to me.  You see, I grew up without my dad being around.  My dad and I have since “reunited” (he actually lives in Birmingham) and we speak occasionally, but it’s rare and it’s always somewhat awkward.  Although he’s always nice enough when we speak, he still feels like a bit of stranger to me.  The last time I saw him or spoke to him was almost two years ago at Andrew’s first birthday party.  In recent years, I’ve always at least sent him a Father’s Day card, but for whatever reason, I didn’t this year.  Part of me feels a bad for that.  I do hope that my experiences with my father will improve my own ability to be one.  I think it has.  Because of this experience, I think fatherhood takes on an even greater duty for me.  You see, to me fatherhood means setting an example, it means caring, it means “taking the time”, and most of all it means “being there”.  I take a lot of pride in the fact that we sit down together for supper, as a family, at least four nights a week.  And, almost every night Becki and I both put Andrew to bed and say our prayers together with him.

Although I’m certainly not perfect (lacking a lot of patience), I do try and I think I’m getting better.  I just pray that Andrew (and soon Matthew) will be able to look back one day and know that he had a good dad.