A Different Father’s Day

The best kids in the world

This is a different Father’s Day.  In years past, Father’s Day meant cut-out, hand-made cards, breakfast in bed and long morning hugs from my three children.  This year is different.  My kids have outgrown the handmade card artistry, I am awake long before they are wiping the sleep from their  eyes, and the hugs will be a few less. 

As I write this, I can’t embrace what I’m feeling.  (Frankly, I can barely put two sentences together).  Like in a dance, the sense of loss and joy are twirling about the stage.  I literally hurt, wanting to see my little Makenzie again and hear her shout “Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!” like she had done every year since she could talk.  I am so grateful that she gave me, and only me, those words. 

I am so happy that God allows me the daily priveledge of seeing Nathan grow into an incredible man.  I am truly honored that God would give me an incredibly fun young girl in Maddie.  Any dad would call himself blessed to have these two.

This is a different Father’s Day.  I won’t get the kisses from Makenzie.  I wont see her  loving smile as she jumps on me to wake me from my sleep.  And most of you have no idea how desparately I want one more squeeze from her.  But I am reasurred knowing that Makenzie is in the arms of her real daddy.  (BTW — If God slept, she’d be planning to pounce on Him even as I write this). 

Dad’s — hug your kids  extra tight today.  I won’t get to hug Makenzie again for a long time. 

todd

Makenzie’s Celebration Service – Click Here

An 8-track Parent is published!

My new book, “An 8-track Parent In An Mp3 World,” is available.  Click here for more information.

AMAZON REVIEW:

“This book should be in every parent’s/doctor’s/educator’s resource box. If you are like me you might take “listening to music” for granted and never really thought about how you can help yourself and your child make good choices–not limited choices–when it comes to selecting from the many different styles of music that are available to them. I found the book to:

1. be an easy, quick (2 hours,), entertaining read packed with valuable info and insights.
2. be appropriately written for Christians and non-Christians alike; i.e., not preachy.
3. contain several valuable resources I was unaware of and can make use of with ease.
4. provide clear, concise steps to evaluate music with your child. And, the identified “benefits” of doing so with your child were “spot” on!
5. get your young listener’s attention with the snippets provided by his 13-year old son titled Nathan’s Notes.”

My New Book Coming Soon

“AN 8-TRACK PARENT IN AN MP3 WORLD”

My 13 year old son called me from a music store asking if he could buy a CD.  I was thinking he was choosing between Audio Adreneline or The Newsboys; good Christian bands.  But then he said, “Dad, which is better.  Van Halen or Deff Leopard?”  I knew at that moment, we had to come up with some guidelines on choosing appropriate music for our family. 

 I wrote these guidelines in book form which should be availalbe on Amazon within the next few weeks.  If you have a pre-teen or teenager, these guideline will help you foster good conversations about music and help keep the peace in your household.  Keep Watching.