Just got through with a “battle of wills kinda day” with our youngest. She is smart, beautiful, athletic, witty, fearless, and doesn’t know when to stop pushing to try to get her way. I get to show her when is enough, which is generally poorly received. And I’m her Dad. It is my job to not only provide for her, but to prepare her for what’s to come.

There is nothing in this world harder than being a parent. There is nothing more rewarding either. I’m fortunate that my wife and I share about 95% of the same views on the way forward with our children. If we didn’t, I can’t imagine how we would get anything done raising them. We are preparing for them to go out, but truthfully, we never want them to leave.

We’d prefer to freeze things right where they are…16,15,12, and 10…all under our roof, smiles, crying, laughing (lots of that), hopes, dreams, disappointments, and triumphs—all right where we can hold them, hug them, guide them….but that ain’t the way this all works. So we gotta prep them for when they walk out that door. And I don’t want that all to be based on hope…I need to know that they can handle both adversity & prosperity with a strong clear head and a heart full of grace.

And at times, I see glimpses that we are getting there. The way they treat others or stand for what is right, I feel such pride and hope…it is inconsistent, but we get flickers.

I know I will be completely crushed when they aren’t here. When there is no obligation to talk, text, visit, or take part in the family, will they? I suppose it will be a bumpy road…but I also need to remember the overall.

The truth is My children aren’t mine…they are the sum of our toil, worry, and hopes that we send out the front door daily to do God’s will. We pray nightly that they are “salt and light, with grace and grit” for those that they encounter outside these walls. We hope they behave so wherever they may go. They can’t do that if they are always in our comfortable cocoon…they have to go and do.

Seeing them learn, grow and mature has been the highlight of my adult life. They will grow, and do, win and lose, but thankfully I’ll always be “Dad” to them. And that small 3 letter word, when said by those 4, makes the absolute best sound in the world.