Thoughts on becoming a father

Lately, watching Rosanna’s stomach at night has been far more entertaining than watching television.  We are officially in the third trimester (Saying “we,” isn’t true, technically I have done nothing except move some boxes) with a January 7^th due date.  We still don’t know what the gender of the baby is, we are hippies at heart I suppose, and we change our mind pretty much every day as far as what our guess is. Pregnancy has been a beautiful time in our life and Rosanna has handled it all quite well.  After all, it is the only time of life for a woman where it is permissible for complete strangers to touch your stomach.  Also, the first five minutes of every conversation is spent discussing how much weight you’ve gained and where you carry it.

Me on the other hand, I spend a great deal of time wondering what kind of father I’ll be, and what I want this child to say about me.   My father for instance always seemed to possess superhero strength and an uncanny ability to assemble things.  He was raised in West Texas and has wonderful stories about killing mountain lions and breaking bones.  I am far more comfortable with an apple product than a Makita power tool.

In spite of that, becoming a father seems like life’s ultimate invitation to become a man.  I think this is how life works.  Every new season of life we enter into, whether high school, buying a home, work, dating, singlehood, marriage, or parenthood, we are given an opportunity to become something that the world now needs us to be.  The beautiful twist to life is that just when we get adjusted to one season, it is time to begin another one.  While this process is probably what gives us gray hair, it is also what keeps us young.  With every change life brings, we are drawn in deeper to the gift of life.  When we allow it to take its course, it yields an enduring character and a refined perspective about what matters.  This is how people become adults too I think; there isn’t some magical line that gets crossed as we leave adolescence.  Our job is to fully embrace whatever season is given to us, and when we put ourselves fully in it, one day we wake up and realize we are a different person than we once were.

Cheers friends.