The other day, my wife and I were in the backyard with Daniela, our 22-month-old daughter, who was playing with a beach ball. My wife ran a few steps beyond her and said, “Come on, Daniela. Run!”
Tag: parenthood
How to Forget Your Spouse is Wonderful
“Make sure and record as many of your child’s moments as you can, especially in the early years,” said my coworker. “You’d be surprised how quickly she will change.” I thought it was good advice, but I didn’t want to break out the video camera every time my daughter said a new word. So instead, I decided to get a journal and – every day – write one thing my daughter did and one thing my wife did.
A New Father, A Better Husband
My wife was racked with pain, desperate to deliver our baby, and on the verge of her last push. My pulse raced, my breath was shallow, and I was both terrified and elated. “I want to catch the baby,” I said to the doctor, reminding him, for the third time, of what we had discussed five weeks ago at my wife’s appointment.
Walking My Daughter Down the Aisle
Last Saturday, my 18-month old daughter was the flower girl in her cousin’s wedding. Daniela just learned to walk a month ago, so we questioned whether she would make it down the lengthy, red-carpeted aisle.
Does God Care Whether You Have a Headache?
I don’t often get headaches, but when I do, I ask God to heal me. Even so, I often find myself doubting He actually cares about something so trivial. I figure He’s got more important things to worry about – things like world hunger, sex trafficking, orphans, and cancer. I can’t help but wonder if He hears my request, shrugs, and thinks, “Why don’t you use your energy to pray for someone who has a real problem?”
Our Gift from God
Sometimes you run across a story that demonstrates God’s love in a way that a theological explanation never could. Today, I’m featuring one of those stories from guest writer Evan Bell. If God’s been nudging you to take a risk, to give more than you thought you had to give – read this article. You may just walk away with the courage to follow Him down a path that will change your life forever.
Father God, the Nose-Wiper
Sometimes, my baby girl thinks I’m an awful father. I do mean things like laying her down to sleep, taking pieces of paper out of her mouth, and pulling her away from wall outlets. Today, I’m awful because I’m trying to help her get over a cold. It shouldn’t be a big deal, but here’s the problem: although my daughter likes to have her nose kissed, she does not otherwise want it to be touched.
Getting out of the Social Crib
Last Friday night, I took my baby into the kitchen of a Capitol Hill row house, put her on a changing pad on the counter, and proceeded to change her diaper. It felt awkward, but it wasn’t the diaper change alone that made it feel that way.
It’s Hard to Listen to Your Baby Cry
My wife and I welcomed a new baby into our lives about five weeks ago. We’re taking a lot of our parenting cues from a book called On Becoming Babywise, though we’ve thumbed through some other books like The Happiest Baby on the Block and another book called The Well-Rested Child: What Your Child’s Sleep Problems Say About Your Poor Parenting Skills. Okay, so there’s not actually a book with that last title, but there really is a book called The Happiest Baby on the Block. The title of that one alone probably made us more likely to trust the…
Baby Girl Body Slams Grown Man
Last night, my two-week-old daughter didn’t feel like sleeping. Instead, she was in high-maintenance mode and had basically taken me hostage. Hostage negotiations went something like this: “Dad, I know mommy needs to sleep right now, but that’s not my concern. I’m feeling the need to be pacified really badly. So you have a choice: you either hold me until I go into a baby coma, or you lay me down and I’ll scream so loud that mommy will hear me no matter where I am in the house. So what will it be, Dad?”
God Breaks Out a Cold One
My daughter is only two weeks old, and the vast majority of the time she looks pretty angelic, but there are times when she is not happy about something and totally loses it. These times are usually when I’m doing something she needs – like waking her up because she hasn’t eaten in a while or giving her a bath or taking off an outfit she’s been wearing for a couple of days.
Six days into fatherhood, my baby teaches me a lesson about marriage
Six days ago, my wife quite valiantly delivered our baby girl into the world. I was there cheering her on, like I knew what I was doing. But in reality, I felt like a helpless spectator on the edge of my seat, watching every cliff-hanger of every good TV show ever, times one thousand. I sat there on my metal stool, with my hands outstretched, ready to catch our baby, wide-eyed and trying to hold myself together.
Joshua Rogers 