Mom, it's the New Dad

You may remember that a couple months ago I was having a bit of a personal crisis over whether or not I was "man" enough to turn my little boys into Godly men. And in that time I've worked out my doubts and in recent weeks have never felt more confident in my parenting abilities. Living in a world that is in the shape ours is in more and more women are rearing children with absent fathers. Even married couples have men who are lacking in the leading father department.

With the boys out of school for the summer the quality time we've spent together has taught me a bit about myself. I have what it takes. I'm not afraid to get dirty, I know how to blow things up, and explore the mechanics of why things happen. I can cuddle on the couch, but I can tumble on the floor too. Showing the boys how to do handstands and flipping them through the air I realized that we're lucky. Maybe it was my having a father who wanted boys and treated us the same as one. Or maybe it was the years with the man I married, learning from him what makes boys tick. Or maybe just the affirmation from this Sunday's service telling me that it's not only ok, but it's my duty to pick up where dad has left off.

So I turn the slide into a water slide by setting the sprinkler next to it and we add popcorn Friday to the calendar. We "shoot" each other with sticks and we have sword fights and at the end of the day we pile into a tent in the backyard and watch lightening bugs and listen to crickets and feel at ease with where we are and how we're doing it.