"It will make a Man out of You."

I was recently revisiting some of the applicable catch phrases that are attributed to fatherhood and found myself in high agreement with quite a few of them. The one that I keep coming back to over and over again as I see how much of a self-centered person I really am is "Fatherhood will Make a Man out of You". From my limited experience thus far I have to say that 'they' were right on if they were referring to 'being a man' as a person that is grounded in good decision making, has their priorities straight, and willingly surrenders or sacrifices their own 'wants' for the overall need and health of (an)other's--their child and family.


This may sound rather simple and obvious, however living that constantly is a Path to be reckoned with. Most of us can do this sometimes and for a certain duration, but 'all the time and continuously' is a practice that, well....will change a male's life....perhaps, just perhaps....into a man's.

The Survival Instincts Of 4 Year Old

My daughter is not yet quite 4 years old and yet, in a way, she is going on 10. I must say this as a commentary on how often it may seem that I 'round up' upon reference to her age. I think this comes from witnessing her speed of development as much as a subliminal hope that she go ahead and move past certain stages of behavior that are quite challenging. I know that it is all to no avail as the next will just supplant the current one with it's own set of stresses and boundary-pushing characteristics. C'est la Vie for the parents of the world. I love my child and all she brings to my life regardless of how much or to what degree my own skill set gets tested. I need it, obviously. That being said....

Keeping up with her takes skill. You have to 'be ahead' of kids as they move about their day and this can be challenging at times becomes it sometimes feels as if they are moving against you. At this age their bodies (at least ours) is not firmly grounded in the mechanics of co-ordination and we must continually protect her from herself as well as keep ahead of the maelstrom of her activity. It's kind of funny--the things that you have to instruct them on in order to keep them from hurting themselves. Just yesterday, in Waco, Shayla was riding around on one of those 3 wheeled scooters that kids are frequently seen skating around on. These are the 'push' kind whereby you push with one foot while the other is on the scooter proper. They have handle bars for steering. You've seen these kind. Anyway, one of her cousins was riding around on one and he was doing these sort of wheelies as he was riding. He's a 7 or 8 yr. old boy and he understands the laws of gravity..or at least to a much better extent than she. Well, she sees him doing these 'wheelies', and of course she wants to do this as well. It was good that she told me that this is what she was trying to do as she was wheeling about because it was not yet obvious. I didn't want it to become obvious as that may have been coming to her aid after she had landed flat on her back. I had to explain to her that that was not a smart thing to do. I was trying to explain to her about 'the center of gravity' and all that and she didn't really get a whit of what I was talking about, of course. I just ended the discussion by telling her that she was not really old enough to try that trick just yet. Thankfully, I think she gave up on it, or it appeared that she did, which was nice, and certainly not a 'given' just because "Daddy said to'".

The above is just one small example of the many near misses that occur in the process of raising a child. These are these kind of silent moments within you as you see them pass before you and realize within the same space of dawning that your child has just been spared the effects of causal reality yet once again. The droplets of perspiration appear on your forehead as you say a "Whew!" in your mind and give Thanks in your Heart that your beloved has been blessed by grace once again. Then if you're like me, you stand back within yourself and say "How, on God's green earth, do we humans manage to survive!?". I think to myself, "We were in the wild at one point?! Really?? You've got to be kidding!". I know that indeed we were there at one point, but I have to say that raising a child really, really makes you take a good look at the instincts, survival skills, and evolutionary path that human beings have taken. Sometimes it seems, in my mind, that pre-calamity survival instincts within humans could be a tad stronger, especially with kids. All parents who agree raise your right hand and say "Aye"! That's all I'm saying. That's my vote as the father to a 4 yr. old whirlwind of a daughter. Just because they're practically made out of cartilage at this point in their lives does Not mean that they have to test it. Not only that, but these experiments with gravity and physics cost both pain and money: not a joyous combo, thank you very much. I am very thankful for grace.