The question to ask is not WHAT am I here for, but WHO am I here for?  I look at Riley, Olivia, and London and I just know.  I’m here to lead them, so that they can learn to lead others.  Every day before they leave the house we recite our motto, I am a leader, and leaders make good choices.  Every night during our prayers, I remind them that they are leaders, like Queen Esther, who God created to lead for such a time as this.

You can’t look around at the events happening in our world today without your heart breaking for the stunning lack of leadership in how we treat each other.  You see, that’s my favorite part of being a dad, the intentionality.   I love the intentionality of raising another individual, in my case 3 girls.  Molding them, shaping how they learn to view the world.

My prayer is that they grow up to see the world, specifically their time, talents, and treasure, through the lens of God’s love.  I want them to understand how connected we all are as people, despite our differences.  I want them to be empathetic.  I want them to be open to new ideas and new experiences, while grounded in their own core values and beliefs.  I want them to interrogate our traditions because I believe that life and faith are meant to be examined, in order to be fully lived out.  Ultimately, I want them to be more purposeful with their own lives, than I ever could be.

It’s one thing to want these things, (and believe me, getting to the point of clarity is half the battle).  It’s a whole other thing to grow these characteristics.  That requires opening your kids (and yourself) up to new experiences.  So kudos to the parents that are parenting with intentionality.  Let’s face it, our kids are our best guinea pigs.  At least they’re resilient.  Here’s to hoping that the right things we plant in them do stick, and the mistakes we make with them are somehow used as reminders of our ongoing humanity.

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