The Sum Is Greater Than Its Parents

When you first become a parent, you have some pretty stupid, uninformed ideas as to what that means. There are SO many things you have to learn, SO many ways you have to grow and mature and SO many ways to be surprised.

For some reason, relishing in my ignorance, I somehow believed that my kids could do no better than what my wife and I genetically bring to the table. Yes, that means I forgot that we both have generations of DNA waiting to be unleashed from family members gone by... I told you, I was an idiot.

So, when my kids started doing things better than I could have ever imagined, it caught me off guard. As a writer, I love words, but my daughter has had a mastery of language that I could not even have comprehended at her age. She is an incredibly talented writer and is able to phrase things in such tremendously beautiful ways.

And my son is a baseball freak, in the best sense of the word. His skills, understanding and competitiveness when it comes to baseball are years ahead of most kids his age. He's eight, can throw over 40 mph fastball and is a switch hitter. I was lucky to remember to wear my cup when I was eight and he's making diving catches at third base.

This pleasant surprise... that my kids have unique talents, has been a great ride for both of us. As a parent, I get to foster their God-given talents and watch them achieve things I could never achieve and they get to have our support and attempt tasks with unknown outcomes with the knowlege that we will be there to catch them if they fall.

Again, I am brought back to the thought that being a parent gives us greater insight into God. That He is there through our journey and will catch us when we fall.

I was sitting in my living room the other night watching my children and I was so filled with love for them. And I looked up to heaven and thought, "God, you love us even more than I love my children, don't you?" How He must take great joy in our overcoming obstacles, of fulfilling our dreams, of sharing that success with Him. As with any parent, you want your children to be both independent and, at the same time, actively involved in your life.

So, as my children continue to explore frontiers specifically designed for them, I sit gladly in the passenger seat and enjoy the ride, all the while reminding myself to make sure God sits next to me when as I brave through my own personal adventures.