This is for all you fellow men out there!
Ever tried staying at home with the kids while your wife is away?
Let me tell you a story about a guy who prides himself on
being a great dad. This is a guy who
loves spending time with his kids, and his kids love spending time with
him. Here is his story.
“My wife works Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and occasionally
she will come home late, which means I fly solo with the kids. So when I get home after a long day of work,
it usually involves the customary greeting and joy associated with young
children at seeing their daddy (which by the way, I wish never went away), then
I feed the dog, play with the kids, entertain them while making dinner (this
typically entails one trying to get me to play the part of Eugene, while she
plays Rapunzel, and the other kid is pulling at my leg, because he is hungry
and wants to be held). Despite the fact
that stirring a hot dish, or doing anything that requires two hands while
holding a baby is nearly impossible, somehow dinner is finished. Oh, I forgot to mention, that you have to
make sure your dog doesn’t eat the part of dinner already done on the counter
and that the rest doesn’t burn, while changing the little ones diaper, and
peeling him out of his clothes he just exploded all over, while the 2 year old
runs up to you with soaked pants and exclaims, ‘I had to potty!' After dinner (good luck eating your own meal)
it is off to the bath.
Bath time equals confined space, which is
usually the easy part, unless your toddler will not stop pushing your 1 year
old (this is always frowned upon, especially around water) because he will not
stop touching her Ariel doll, which he thinks is hysterical causing her to
yell, ‘Stop laughing at me, it’s not funny!’ Then the sadness commences because
at some point you have to get the little prunes out of the tub and the amount
of time they allow you to dry them off is a millisecond and their hair is still
dripping wet. I don’t even bother trying to brush the girl’s hair, the amount
of tangles is pointless and one battle I am never going to win especially as
she is trying to run away from me. I have to sacrifice my t-shirt next because
she is “cold” (obviously still wet from not allowing me to dry her off) and to
be honest, I love seeing her in it. If
any of you have kids, you know by this time it is usually an all-out circus,
with both kids crying because they are sleepy, while you wrestle them into
their PJs, warm up the bottle, and put the littlest to bed (all the while
trying to keep the toddler quiet, because she is keeping her brother up). Now it is the 2 year olds turn, and we sing
our routine of very specific songs, she pulls out all the procrastination
techniques known to man and finally I get out of the room and she is asleep for
the night. At this point, if your wife
is still not home, you can clean up the remains of dinner (unless the dog ate
them), and do the dishes.”
Now don’t get me wrong.
Even though this is a very real and detailed scenario, the dad is me,
Luke, (obviously), I wouldn’t change it for the world, as I know that my
children are a gift from God. “Behold,
children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Psalm
127:3 In a short time, God is using two
little children to teach patience,
grace, humility, kindness and most of all Love, to an otherwise selfish and
prideful individual.
Men, I’m telling you these things, because if you haven’t
spent time with your kids without your wife there as a safety net, then you
should. Otherwise you will never know
the self-sacrifice, patience and love your wife pours out every day into your
children, and to you. And to all you
single mothers and stay at home moms, I salute you, because you have little
innocent souls in your charge. And
there is no greater work, than to plant the seed of salvation through Jesus
Christ in the lives of those we hold dear.
And doing this work requires the
attributes of a righteous person: patience,
kindness, knowledge, humility and love. In
a day and age where we as Americans like to find our identity in a career and
putting all our effort in it, what can be more rewarding than pouring your life
out into your children. Let’s indeed define
ourselves but what we do, and let THAT be the work of God.
Thank you Moms!
Luke
Great post, Luke, and as a former stay-at-home mom, who felt she was doing the most significant work ever, I thank you for recognizing the importance of raising responsible human beings. Love the new website! Very cool!
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