Happy Fathers Day!

I awoke this morning to eggs, bacon and coffee. It was awesome. I also received a pile of homemade cards, pictures and gifts from my kids. It is a great reminder of how lucky I am.

In this day and age there is a real and dangerous attack on the family and especially the father. Centuries of tradition and practice are disappearing and the ramifications of which are starting to manifest in our society in a very real and terrifying way.

Fathers are portrayed in mainstream media as bumbling idiots or childish and in need of a strong woman to mother them and keep them from doing stupid things. I have no issue with strong women helping their husbands, but the result is a generation of men that do not know how to be men.

We are being told that biology is subjective and that gender is a societal construct, both of which are demonstrably false. This style of reasoning is eroding the foundations of society and it scares me to think of what kind of future my children and grandchildren will have. We men are no longer allowed to be men, that being manly is sexist and has no place in our society. Our kids are the ones who will suffer for this.

The current push is to eliminate the days honouring our parents because of feelings. It is probably the saddest thing I’ve seen and it concerns me greatly. The traditional family has been proven to be the most stable and empowering environment in which to raise children and to destroy that simply because it might hurt someone’s feelings is ludicrous.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have both parents involved in their lives and those that do have to compete with careers and media for their time. It is a daily struggle for me to deny myself and put into my kids what they need and deserve. It is not an easy job to be a parent, but if it isn’t hard it ain’t worth doing.

I hope that my legacy to my kids is not an inheritance of money or of things, but of an honourable life. A life worth repeating.

To all you fathers out there, Happy Fathers Day!!

The New Year

Currently we are in the Arizonan desert enjoying a second summer. The temperature over Christmas was comparable to our typical July sunny days. I’ve followed the weather to all the places we travelled through and have to say we picked a good year to come here.

The new year has rolled around again. Reflecting on the last year has been humbling. We’ve made some big changes, some good and some great. I don’t want to say we’ve made any bad decisions because we have yet to see the outcomes of all of them.

I don’t make New Years resolutions as I have yet to make one last more than a couple weeks. I do however, feel as though I have changed. I still have my bad temper and still have some pig headed tendencies, but I have learned to be ok with taking some risks and stepping out in faith. I’ve learned that being outside of normal isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact it is a very good thing.

I’ve learned to cherish my time with my family. I realize that they are my biggest treasure and that I have not always treated them as such. These moments and memories we are making will last a lifetime. The time goes by so fast and we feel like we wasted so much of it on idle things.

My attitude still needs adjusting and my kids would tell you I still suck at showing affection, but I feel like I’m making progress. Not everyday living in a tin can with 8 other people can be sunshine and lollipops after all.

Still, this journey we are on I think is the best decision we’ve made. It wasn’t easy to get to this place. We made some mistakes along the way, but we also had family and friends looking out for us. God has been good to us and has met our every need, and then some.

The relationships we have made along the way will last a life time. All the people we have met are so nice and have made a difference in our lives. I can’t express enough the generosity we’ve received from people we barely know. I only hope that we can return the kindness shown to us in some form or another.

So as we begin 2018 my greatest desire is for everyone to see their infinite worth. I think we all have something to offer this world in this time that can bring about positive change, we just need a gentle push. Showing kindness, listening without speaking, being generous…all small things that have a far greater power than we can ever know.

I am striving to be more present in the moment, especially with my wife and children. It is easy to put things off until tomorrow, but we never know if tomorrow will ever come. Life is precious, so are we.