A Little Something About Time

I wrote this over two years ago, and never knew then how real the underlying statement of it would be to me now, so I decided to post it here.

"A Little Something about Time"

It's all in due time; these things, hopes and dreams that we all wait to come true. Dreams of being rich, having it all, or doing more in life than just getting by. But time is an endurance run, a marathon, and you are always coming in a close second.

For some, time is just a unit of measure. We count down the minutes until we are off work or out of school. People counting down the hours they have been on the road, yet they are not even close to being home. We count the seconds as we near the end of our lives, and count the days being served in sentences.

Time is a beast that we are all a slave to. We try to do everything "in due time", yet time devours us without a second thought and before we can count the time it takes to do it. Time, is on nobody's side. In a world where time flies by and life never stops,  nobody stops to stand in awe of the moments that make time stand still. We live our lives by the watch, all the while the clock of life keeps ticking away. We are none the wiser to realize it is ticking faster and faster and our watches are useless. One day, mankind will figure it all out, but perhaps, just maybe, it's all in due time.

John T

My Children, My Dearest

I wish for you, my children, my dearest, a lifetime of love, and eternity of happiness.

I wish for you the best life has to offer, and the best life I can give.

I wish for you, my children, my dearest, all the riches of the heart and soul.

You'll never know how much I watch you, observe you, and study you.

You'll never know how much I envy you sometimes, and how I admire you.

You'll  never know how much I know you and how little you know this fact.

I know your faces. I know your smiles, and your frowns.

I know your happy from your sad. Your angry from your hurt.

I know your dances and your motions.

I know your love for each other, brilliant and true.

I know your thirst for affection, and your hunger for life.

I can read your minds and your hearts

I can feel your vibrant spirits and young souls.

I can see your feelings through your eyes and I love them all.

Never have I loved anyone the way I love you.

Never have I adored a human being the way I adore you.

Never could I dream of the feelings you bring to my life.

Never would I have imagined such perfect love.

You, my childen,  are the reason I breathe.

You , my dearest, are the reasons I hope and I dream.

You are the ones who make me be my best when I feel I am my worst.

You are my children, my dearest, my pride and my joy.

I will always put you first, my children, my dearest.

I will always there when you need me to be, want me to be, or ask me to be.

I will always care for you, nurture you, and guide you.

I will always love you with infallible love. With unbreakable, steadfast, incalculable love.

My children, my dearest, when my life comes to an end, remember I always loved you.

My children, my dearest, never forget who you are, and who's you are.

My children, my dearest, the world is your stage. Take it by storm

My children, my dearest.

Written in humble adoration, and unsilenced love,

Your father

Letter to Marlee: Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

To My Precious Marlee:

Today, you turn 1 year old. Now, I know that the number one is a very small number, but to your daddy, this is a big occasion. One year ago today, our family, and my heart became whole. The piece of the puzzle that I had waited 9 long months for, was brought into light and her screams filled my heart with cheer and my eyes with tears.

I will never forget the way I felt the first time I held you, the first time I kissed you, and the first time I gazed into your beautiful blue eyes. I will never forget the gladness that swelled up inside me to the point I thought my body would explode. (not to mention the first time I felt the fear of "OH MY GOSH SHE WILL BE A TEEN ONE DAY)

It has been such a joy and an honor to watch the miracle that is life once again over this last year. Watching you go from the infant that slept in my arms, to the little girl I'm always chasing around, pulling off the bottom stair, the cabinets, the chairs, your brother. The time has gone by so fast, and every minute that seems to have just slipped away, has not slipped away unnoticed.

You have my heart, and my promise; the promise to protect you, provide for you, and be your shoulder to cry on. You have my soul and my will, that no matter how hard it may seem, that I will always press forward, and be the best father I can be, because you deserve it.

You may never read these words, and that's okay; and right now are too young to understand. But always know this: Daddy will always love you, and always be here for you. You are MY daughter, and that is something that nothing, or nobody, can ever change.

I love you baby girl!

With adoration,
Daddy

"I know a girl

She puts the color inside of my world
But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls are continually changed
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hands"

"Daughters" by John Mayer

My First Book Review: "Faith of a Child" by Stefan Lanfer

There are a lot of parenting books out there. I mean, TONS of them. From faith based to sheer comical genious, each with its own approach when it comes to handling the ever changing, ever more difficult subject of parenting. There are so many to choose from that just looking at the rows of them in most bookstores is enough to send any new or soon-to-be dad into a black hole of "OH MY GOSH, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!?!"

So what IS a man to do? What's a soon-to-be or brand new dad supposed to do? Most the books are geared towards women, or they are repeats of the other 10,936 books you have already read. Your mind is racing and heart is pounding at this point, grasping for any sense of reality in these books that might just hit that "A-HA" switch to put you at ease. So you ask yourself, "Which one of these books is going to do it for me?"

Past, Present, and High School Reunions

It's funny how quickly history becomes just that: history. I always liked the part in Lion King (watching it a million times with Caleb) where the baboon hits Simba on the head and when Simba asks him what he did it for he says "it does not matter, it's in the past". The instant after events happen or words are spoken or written, they become the past, and in a lot of ways, are no longer a part of our lives.

I started thinking about this as I was reading a blog post by an old high school friend of mine, Marc. In his post he talks about the upcoming reunion of our senior class next year. He'll never know how much the post had an impact on me last night as I started thinking about a certain day where I have probably not actually had a whole conversation with Marc since this day, 9 years ago.

Motherhood Madness Monday: Guest Post by Cynthia

As we dad's know, and have probably heard a thousand times from our spouses, mom's have a lot more stress from parenthood than we do. If you don't know this yet, then just ask any mom.

Motherhood Madness Monday is for moms to share their thoughts and feelings on certain subjects that relate to momhood. Being a dad, I obviously cannot give these words of wisdom and advice, or share the feelings of being a mom. So once a week I will ask a mom to guest post on a certain topic to give everyone the mom's eye view.

This week I asked Cynthia, 22 year old mother of a 3 year old with one on the way, to share with us her biggest fears and biggest dreams for her children. Thank you so much, Cynthia, for sharing with us.