My last day of work at the Hotel was December 30th. It was nice to clock out and leave work behind. Now, at my new job, I cant seem to find the time clock and am unable to clock out! As you may or may not know, I am now a stay at home dad. My position at the hotel was scheduled to be eliminated in March, and with the cost of daycare and having to put Emma, our 4 month old in daycare, it made more sense for us for me to stay at home. More importantly, we really felt led by God for me to stay at home. To sum up how I feel about it, well, I absolutely love it! I get to be with my kids everyday and am able to accomplish things around the house. I am able to serve at our church a little more too.
God has been more than gracious to me, and He really does heal and repair lives. I am a huge believer in restoration. Restoration is hard and some people shy away from it. It has been, and will continue to be, a long, hard, yet rewarding journey. I have come to realize that if I cant disciple and serve my wife and kids, how can I ever be entrusted to do it again outside my family. I pray that God uses me to love, serve and disciple Sue and the girls.
Being at home has opened my eyes to a few things that are quite humorous:
1. The kids CONSTANTLY need something!
2. The baby will poop/barf right when you are trying to get out the door.
3. The kids can reach the threshold of pain decibel level in a matter of 1.6 seconds.
4. Just when you think you have a quiet moment.....
5. 2 year olds are amazing climbers, nay, fearless climbers.
6. Screaming at your kids, "hold on, I"M TRYING TO DO MY QUIET TIME," is counter-productive.
7. A 4 month old's head control is deceptive....it's not quite fully developed yet...
8. Why do I even get the paint out....?
9. My discipleship group loves making jokes that I should join a "moms support group."
10. Being the only dad to drop your kid off at parents day out welcomes all kinds of stares, and comments.
11. NIck Jr. has an awesome daily line up of tv shows. (so does the dvr).
12. Madelyn trying to do p90x with me makes me laugh and fall on my face while trying to do a push up.
13. My mother in law doesn't think I am serious about dropping them off every Friday so I can go play golf.
14. My father in law has become my go to, "help, I need (____________)."
15. I am a pushover...who doesn't love chips and cookies all day?
While it is humorous, it is also rewarding. I hear people say all the time they wish they could go back and have more time with their kids while they were young, well, I am trying to take full advantage of the time I have with them. I pray everyday that I can model a Christ and take time to talk to the girls about the Lord. Mostly, I pray that they see it in my life that they want to emulate it.
I know how I feel as a Father being with my kids all day, and I see them being more affectionate to me, that I can only imagine how God the Father must feel when we spend time with Him, and how we can become more affectionate to Him!
