Have
you ever had one of your children come to you in an intense matter about a
challenge they’re having that is totally fixable? Because they have never had
to grow through this challenge yet they don’t have any ideas how to make it
through. Women, how about your daughter’s first menstrual cycle? I'm so blessed
that God made me a man. I have no idea what it is like to have to go through
that every month.
I do
remember my daughter calling my wife to the bathroom in a hysterical manner as
if something was really wrong. After my wife came out, I asked her what was
wrong only to not want to know all the details. To all the single Dad’s raising
young women, I really have a lot of respect for you because you have had to be
both mother and father. It is already not easy parenting, but then also having
to act as both parents is a little more challenging.
As I
am writing this blog my oldest son is finding his way as a 23 year old, my
daughter is turning 16 and my youngest is 4. All of them have their own
personalities and their own challenges that we are growing through as a family.
My 4 year old is learning how to sleep in his own bed and not want to be in our
bed every night. Our daughter is about to have her sweet 16 party and get her driver’s
license. My 23 year old is finding his way through his career. All these events
have our family bonding together and growing through life experiences.
The
glue for us is our faith that God will provide all that we need. Emotionally
what may seem to be routine sometimes can be quite a traumatic experience. If
Christ were not in my life I don’t know if I would have the patients to deal
with all that parenting has to offer. It’s easy to quit when it gets tough, or
verbally abuse your spouse. It’s a totally different thing to realize that God
loves you and wants you to Love his children so therefore you need to apologize
to those you hurt. But more importantly you need to get help so that they don’t
grow up verbally abusing their children because they haven’t figured out how to
deal with the stresses of life.
Life
is a marathon and it’s going to take a support team to navigate through it. If
you don’t belong to a church, just visit a few even if you've never set foot in
one. People are warm, friendly and they truly care about your well-being. Once
you are there, stay a while and get to know some people. You’ll find out what I
did after years of Alcohol and Marijuana addiction, that it’s the best place to
be in the entire world.
