It's time for tea

When I first heard the news that we were having a girl I was so overcome with disbelief that I had to sit down and I immediately tears came to my eyes. Most of all I am excited that my mom will get to experience having a granddaughter, especially after she has already been through 3 grandsons. (No offense to the fellas after all I have a penis too) I guess we were all so convinced that it was going to be a boy that hearing “you’re having a girl” was a surprise, a total surprise. But before I go on to completely share my thoughts on preparing for a daughter I want to make it clear that it was a pleasant surprise and I am excited to braid hair. The problem lies in the preparation to even attempt to braid hair or I don’t know, have a tea party. After hearing the great news Nat and I were walking through Target and I had an epiphany, I am a dude. There is no question, I am all guy. This hit me while standing in the toy section. I naturally gravitated towards the Transformers and GI Joes. It was in front of Megatron that I explained to Natalie that there are so many toys for boys but not many for girls. As I browsed through the Star Wars awesomeness, I went further to let her know that there was at least twice the amount of aisles containing boy toys as there were girl toys. After noticing that she found that comment quite comical, I followed my wife to discover that there were just as many aisles of girl toys as boys. How did I miss all of this for so many years? How could I not know that there were as many girl toys? So, being excited to have a daughter, I plunged into the girly stuff. I must say that the girl stuff really sucks, Barbie, Doll Houses, My Little Pony, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, and so on and on. Of course I have heard of these things before but this world was much bigger than I imagined. Seriously what is will the Horse fetish? Does every little girl want a pony? Somewhere in the midst of this began the fear, I have no idea how to be a father to a girl. I could handle the boy thing, but a girl is going to be fish out of water. My fears grew when we looked at the books and DVDs and realized the types of girly cartoons that I get to look forward to. The Girl thing is already invading everything. Just today I walked into the closet in the guest room and found a stash of little baby girl clothes. So it has begun. Now that the girls will outnumber the boys in the house I am getting use to the idea of pigtails and tea time. I must say though that I am trying. I even went to Toys R Us and got a Care Bear to visually help me get focused. The good news is I still have some time to get ready or perhaps a few last moments of video games and Monday night football.

This is Life.....

This past month has been the busiest and craziest that I can ever recall. Although I must confess that due to my relative young life, more craziness is bound to come along the way. For now I suppose that a few weeks of house flooding, cars breaking down, car accidents in rental vehicles, cracked ribs, and a pronounced cyst on the brain of our unborn child will do. The most unexplainable thing is that given everything, nothing seemed to matter aside from awaiting more information about what our daughter was facing. After much prayer and support from many friends and family, hearing the doctors say that the cyst went away was the happiest moment that I can ever recall. I know that parenthood is bound to change you but I am just now beginning to understand. God has proven to be more faithful through this season in our lives than we have ever imagined or given Him credit for. My faith in God’s plan and His sovereignty never wavered, but to see his faithfulness to us in guiding us through these times has brought me to a new level of gratefulness; that the creator of the universe would desire communion with me I will never completely grasp. All of the above I have completely seen displayed in the body of Christ and community of faith. Although I pray for less stressful times ahead I know that no matter the load of the days ahead we will continue to step forward in the journey. For now it may be best said by the musical genius of Vermeer..."This is Life"