Let’s call her Maebe, the name I pulled for but that quickly got shot down. Here we are, the wifey and I, about to bring a new life into the world. I’ve been unknowingly preparing for this moment for 28 years, and I’m not nearly as freaked out as I thought I might be. Perhaps it’s the calm before the storm, but I don’t even know what I expected. For starters, I’m not one for looking too far ahead. This week is quite enough for me. You ever write out a five year plan, a ten year plan or whatever? It’s tough. Where do you want to be in five years, and what do you want to be doing? If you’d asked me five years ago, ha, it sure wouldn’t have been where I am. My aspirations were far different. They were centered around me. Thankfully, priorities change and hearts can be revived, pulling us out of helpless situations to a place where things are more clear. Praise God for perspective!

But I didn’t think about Maebe. I don’t really think I thought, at least not about anything important. Today when I think about her, I still don’t know if it feels real. It’s like any other big change in life…until you’re right there in the thick of it and the tangibility can’t be denied, you’re not even sure if it’s actually happening. But judging by the size of Liz’s belly, it’s definitely happening! So now I’m like, “Okay, I’m gonna be a dad. How do I keep my daughter from wanting to be a princess and loving Hannah Montana?” I know I’ve got some time to figure it out, but the bombardment of pink and frills kind of goes against everything I stand for. I want to protect her from pop culture, but that means giving her an attractive alternative. But it’s in our nature to want to fit in and desire acceptance. How do I instill an ideal in my children that it’s not only okay to be different, it’s necessary to create change and to stand out? If anyone wants to make a difference in this world, it’s not accomplished by fitting in. It’s done by going against the norm, which goes against our norm. What a strange paradigm.

And I’m afraid I’m going to realize how little I really know about things. Have you ever been around those kids and they just keep asking ‘why?’ to everything? Uhh, I don’t think I know. And how do I teach her to be positive in such a negative culture? We’re a people obsessed with negativity and extremes which is made obvious by magazine covers and cable news networks. Maybe they slide in a story about a puppy dog being saved on the back cover, but the warm fuzzies have fallen by the wayside in favor of breakups and scare tactics (Oh no! The flu!!). I want Maebe to love what’s good…what’s really good. For her to love the important things in life and to follow and appreciate what the Bible teaches us. But at some point, I’m going to have to let her go figure things out for herself.

A wise man once posed the question, “If you see me run into something and it hurts, would you do the same thing yourself to see if you experience a different outcome? Then why do we repeat the same mistakes as other people instead of learning from them?” He then explained that we have an entire Bible worth of stories where people, followers of God, screwed up. So how can I expect my little girl to learn from them? Ahh, I must learn from them first. I must know how to apply the human lives written about in the Word to my life. But I can’t expect for her to never get into any sort of trouble. I just need to know how God dealt with so many of His children messing up and then learn from the Master. Walk in His footsteps. How does He discipline? How does He forgive? How does He love?

One can never be totally ready or prepared to raise a child, but I’m resting in that the God I put my trust in every day will teach me how to father and guide my reactions to Maebe. So, when our iddy biddy girly whirly poops her cute lil’ pants, I’ll know how to respond. And later in life, when she gets caught at make-out point with Johnny Somebody, I’ll know how to respond. And finally when Maebe’s having her own lil’ punkin’ dumplin’, she’ll know how to respond. The fact is, this little girl’s gonna change Liz’s and my future forever and we welcome that with great excitement and anticipation. We’re not freaking out or anything, but not because we know we’re gonna be great parents or even because we grew up with great parents to model. We’re calm because we have and know a great Father Who we learn from every day. As He teaches us, we’ll continually become more equipped to raise and teach Maebe so that, whether or not she changes the world, she’ll be able to put life in perspective and love what’s right (like her mom and dad…ha!).