Parenthood

The wedding vows we take are to \"love, honor, obey, in sickness & in health, until death us do part”.   When we bring a child into the world and into our lives, we make a different, unspoken vow.   To this child and to God, we promise “to love unconditionally until our dying day.”  



For the first few years it’s easy enough to keep that vow.   Everything our child does brings pleasure and joy:   the first time that tiny hand grasps our finger, the first pseudo-smile, the first light of recognition we see in our child’s eyes when we stand over the crib.   All the “firsts” are amazing to us, as if it’s the first time any infant has rolled over, sat up, crawled, walked.   We are in awe of this tiny creature with which God has gifted us.  



As our child grows so do the joyous moments:   reading bedtime stories (“Just one more, please!”), trips to the park (“Push the swing higher!”), visits to the zoo where we see God’s creatures through our child’s eyes for the first time;   learning to ride a two-wheeled bike, learning the ABC’s, learning to read.   Our love grows as this tiny creature grows.



And as the child grows, his personality, abilities, preferences, and interests become more apparent.   We determine that he hates veggies, is afraid of scary movies, is an excellent basketball player, and wants to be a rock star. So we camouflage the broccoli with cheese, avoid frightening movies, practice free throws on the driveway, and tell him he can become anything he wants to be if he works hard enough.   Teachers share that he’s a chatter-box in class, he’s a good-hearted child, but seems to be having difficulty in arithmetic.   We explain to him the importance of good classroom behavior, rewarding him when we get a good report from the teacher.   We tell him how proud we are of how kind he is to others and how that’s the most important trait a person can have.   We help him every night with math homework, and celebrate every small success....