Yesterday we witnessed history in more ways than one. Our family matriarch, my grandmother and Sloane’s great grandmother texted me after her birth: we are happy to have you join the ranks Sloane.  I love that language, it conjures up images of a warrior joining her team on the battlefield, and in many ways that’s exactly what this is.  

Funny thing about little kids, they don’t seem to worry about much.  Sometimes (all the times) I miss those days…

On vacation at least your mind can relax about your everyday to- do list.  But once vacation ends, it’s back to the often overwhelming real world, so it helps to have some coping mechanisms.

This time a year ago Samantha and I were facing the greatest challenge of our lives. Now God has redeemed the time with the blessing of another baby due in May. Through this experience we learned that it’s easy to trust God when things are going well. Try trusting him when they aren’t.   

The past is history. The future is a mystery. The present is a gift.

At the beginning of this year we made a commitment to start regularly volunteering together. My hope is that this creates a habit of social awareness for our daughters, that leads to leveraged leadership.

God, teach me to number my days so that I may gain a heart of wisdom. At the end of my life, I’ll likely care more about how I spent my time and who I spent it with.

There’s a quote that hangs in our house, you only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

Our kids are looking for dialogue about faith, not necessarily all the answers.  If we’re honest as parents, we don’t really know all the answers and that’s ok.  We know enough to lay a foundation of belief, and then from there it’s about inviting our children on the same journey of exploration.