On Fatherhood
I’m really not sure how to describe it. Finding out that I am going to be a father on Friday was certainly surreal, and obviously the news is still sinking in. One day you wake up and realize everyday from this point forward will be entirely different because of a new life that is on the way.
Even now I can tell a change is happening in me. I find myself making choices a little more carefully. I catch myself saying or doing things I know I’d regret if I had a little one watching. I imagine this experience will stretch me to the breaking point, but as Hemingway says:
“The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places.”
I know I don’t want to be broken, but if I’m honest with myself, there are some areas of my life that could use some reshaping. If it takes breaking my will or my pride in order for me to be stronger in these areas, I’m willing to do the work. I know this process will force me to become more like the man I want to be, and will require that I turn to God more and more as I come to the end of my wisdom, capabilities, and energy. I’m looking forward to the end result, and expect to enjoy the transforming part as well.
In all that I think I know today about life, faith, work, and even fatherhood, I still realize Emerson had it right:
“The years teach much which days will never know.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
I’m looking forward to how the years season me. I expect to be better for the journey.