Father's Day!

Hi there!

I hope all daddies out there had a wonderful father's day! To be a father is one of the highest callings that a man can have. During father's day, we often hear what sons and daughters think about their daddies, how much they admire them, the lessons that they learned from them, etc. Today, I wanted to do something different, so I invited a daddy to share his thoughts on "fatherhood" (we don't hear that concept very often, hu?). So here's my very first blog guest: Andrew Stein, my lovely husband and daddy of 2, sharing his thoughts on his role in this family. Enjoy!

Whether it be positive or negative, we get the majority of our shaping from our parents. A son learns what to look for in a woman from his mom and how to treat that woman from his dad. When we have children of our own, all our personal expectation of how we will parent, either positively or negatively, come from that upbringing. I was one so fortunate to have a great father. He would give or do anything to see us succeed. He taught me what it meant to be a dad, a leader in the home. Then came my turn.

 Josias is born-2009

Abigail Liv is born-2011

When all that teaching is behind you, a real family ahead of you and there you are, in the in between, about to meet this new reality, it's like waking from a dream about flying, only to hit the hardwood beneath your bed. Those camping trips you grew up with seem too expensive, the outside games together too exhausting after working all day, and on and on. The dad I always awaited in myself doesn't always show up for work.

Being the perfect dad does not come natural. It isn't something most of us are born with. We, as humans, don't come out with this figured out. But I can honestly say, all the sacrifice, all the effort, and all the fun once I decide to go for it, is nothing less than totally worth it. 

All campfires later on in life could never replace the ones with Dad as a little boy. A teenager wouldn't ever ask his friends, "Why does the fire dance like that?" but a 5-year-old son would. And whether the answer was right or not, I needed to know, and Dad was there too tell me. Just like when we sat in front of the ocean, I thought it never ended. He told me there were other countries beyond what we could see. When I asked if I could walk to them, he explained how continents work. I was 3 and I've never forgotten the facts, nor that moment in the sand with Daddy being there to satisfy my curiosity.

Today, Josias asked me, "What's this?" roughly 37 times. Each one is an opportunity to give him a memory, to satisfy his curiosity, and let Daddy make him proud.

Happy Father's day, every day.


* Thanks to Shane Timm, our friend and photographer, for your amazing shots!*