The simple, priceless joys of being a parent…

… I was amazed at how much joy filled my heart, just watching my little 20 month old princess, take off her brand new shoe, and wiggle her toes… that is all I saw sticking out from under the canopy, as I was pushing the duo stroller… her little foot hanging out and toes a-wiggling… simply priceless, and only another parent can possibly understand that moment in time…

My Baby loves me… ahhh, my heart melted!!!

My 20 month old Anastasia sometimes tilts her head forward and looks at what she wants to do from under her eyebrows… today, she looked at me like that, got a big grin on her face and called out;  “Daddy, I want a kiss!!!”  Then ran to me to pick her in my arms… Can I tell you it made my heart melt?!?  Oh, how I adore her… I love her just as much as Alexander and Arielle.  And she loves me back…

One interesting observation… Children love innocently, naively, without malice or ulterior motive… we grownups can learn a lot from that…  Perhaps that is one of the reasons God tells us in His word we are to become like children… Just a thought.

Holy Spirit

The other night, we were driving home after a late run to the grocery store... It’s 9:15 pm, and from the back of the minivan I hear my 3 year old Arielle singing to the Holy Spirit, calling Him by name, thanking Him for a good day, and how much she loves Him and all kinds of other things. She sang all the way home. Since before they were born, I’ve been declaring over them that they will know the Lord from an early age. I did NOT expect it to be that early. God, you are AMAZING! I have a dream, that my children will grow up, learning not to make the same mistakes their parents made… I have a dream that generational curses would be broken over their lives… and I believe His promise is that these dreams will come to pass…

“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3rd John 1:4

Daddy, let’s talk… we have questions!

I really did not know what to expect, so I said “Ok babies, we have a few minutes before going to bed…”  “Daddy, we have questions about Jesus! Only Jesus is God?”  “Why yes babies, only Jesus…”  “Who else isn’t God?”  “Well, everybody else isn’t God…”

They seemed to understand that one, and took it in stride…

They had other questions, things I cannot discuss on this blog, but I’m sure if you are a single parent, you might have had to answer what I now know are the most painful questions to answer.  And the prayers they pray… so innocent… so vulnerable… so naive (sans the negative connotation) So I told them how awesome they are, and how proud I am to be their daddy… after putting them to bed, as I was walking out they both asked me “Daddy, are you never going to leave us???”  For the first 3 weeks, that question used to be “Daddy, are you going to leave us? Are you coming back?”

So after they went to bed, I went for a walk, and I found myself echoing my children…

“Daddy, let’s talk… I have questions!!!”   And He was right there… just like I didn’t really have the answer my children were hoping for, I had a comforting hug and kisses for them… my Daddy did the same for me…

We will be just fine… He will never leave us or forsake us… How could I not do the same for them?

Yes, we will be just fine…

Wow… what an eventful day!!!

OK, so today was a full day with the babies;  mall, playground, grocery store, and according to them it was ALL fun.

On the way to the mall, I almost passed out laughing a couple of times.  First, my brilliant, 4 years old son told me a joke… a real joke, with a punchline… and he had to ask me if I got it, which it took me a while… so, to recap… he tells the joke, then he has to ask me if I got it a couple of times… then he has to repeat it… then he has to clarify it… oh wow… I almost passed out laughing when I realized, I have been outsmarted by my 4 years old son..  so, here’s the joke;

Q:  What kind of car, has 4 wheels and flies?

A:  A garbage truck!

I told him how would a garbage truck fly? to which he responded… “don’t be silly, cars don’t fly daddy… it’s a joke, get it?!?”

Next, he cries out: “Look daddy, letters…”.  “Ok son, where?  Can you read what they are saying?”.  “Sure daddy… T. O. Y. S. R. U. S.”  “That’s great son, but can you tell daddy what it spells out?”  “Yeah!  Toystore!!! Can we go there?”  I should have known it was a set-up.

Yeah, I was laughing so hard, my vision became blurry, and I started to get dizzy.

On a different note, a lot of breakthroughs today.  Potty training is going very well for Alexander, and Arielle is picking up slowly but surely.  Had a huge breakthrough with Anastasia eating and drinking whatever was given to her today with minimal or at times non-existent fuss.  That is great since in the beginning, for a few days she would only take milk from the bottle and NOTHING else.  Constipated 18 months olds are NO fun, let me tell you.  But we are over that hurdle now, and I think Anastasia and I have come to an understanding; I feed her and she eats it… works for me.

At the mall, I hear a little voice piping up; “Daddy, can we go get some makeup?”   So I took my little 3 years old Arielle to Sephora, and showed her Urban Decay eye shadows, Smashbox lipsticks, and Nars bronzers… all sparkly, and she LOOOVED the color matching on her hand…  Meanwhile, before going in I made it clear to my son that this makeup is only for girls, not intended for boys…. Naturally, once inside, he proceeded to announce to the world that makeup is only for girls, not for big boys like himself.  Hey, freedom of speech at it’s finest.  And Arielle had such a blast.  Now I undestand why I had to work all those years in the cosmetics industry.  (BTW, I’m getting the hang of doing my little biracial princesses hair, and loving every moment of it… they look so cute with their little bows, and braids and afro puffs…)

At the grocery store, they all piled up in a shopping cart and I had the cutest noises coming from my 3 “engines” in my “racing” cart.  “Faster daddy, faster!”  Well, at least people were laughing, understanding what was happening, seeing a middleaged man running around in a grocery store, pushing a shopping cart, with three supremely delighted, squealing toddlers in it.

After, the playground… it was an interesting experience, seeing my son’s reaction to someone else’s toddler “manifesting” the need for an exorcism.  Alexander just looked at him, scowled, then came over to me as says; “Daddy, that little boy screaming like that, I don’t like him… why is he doing that?”  “Just ignore him son.”  He watched that little boy intently for a few more minutes, then went “Eh!” shrugged his shoulders, took Arielle by the hand, to the other side of the slide and proceeded to play with her…. Oh, how I loved him for that.  He wanted to make sure she was safe… His name means “Defender of men”, and it starts with how he protects his sisters.  Arielle is the bold one, given that her name means “Lioness of God”;  she struck up at least 5 conversations (no exaggeration) with complete strangers.  And little Anastasia Evangeline, whose name means “Good news of the gospel” just has the peace of God on her, never fazed by anything, except when it’s time for food, nap or if she is feeling the need for affection, at which time she will walk up to me and start stomping her feet in place, with a big grin on her face and arms lifted for me to pick her up.  So adorable.

In closing, for the past  weeks, we have been studying 1st Corinthians 13, talking about “true love”.  So I asked them to tell me what they think.  I was amazed at how much Arielle remembered, and literally floored by my son repeating to me almost verbatim verses 4 through 8, especially considering that for emphasis, we add the “love is” moniker before every adjective.  And they excitedly shouted togheter that “Love NEVER fails!”  Then we held hands and prayed.

These little ones blow my mind, watching them reciprocate and magnify whatever is poured into them, and in a way it puts the fear of the Lord in me… I do not want to fail them.  I cannot.  Failure is not an option.  The good news is that Jesus says that in Him, success is guaranteed!!!  If I train them up right, they will not depart.  It’s His promise, and His promises are “Yes and Amen!”

Sorry, no pics yet, my 2Mpixel camera phone does not do justice… will wait until I pick up the digital camera we shopped for last week (Arielle picked it out… it’s purple).

Small victory…

… we recently started potty training… I’ve done a lot of research in preparation, and it turns out, all that work is completely useless unless the trial and error process starts.  A small victory occured today;   both Alexander, and Arielle were able to go potty for both #1 and #2,  on their own, one after the other (sorry, no pics… lol).  Oh, the praises and accolades they received.  My son actually exclaimed that he wanted to find someone to tell them of his accomplishments (typical man… lol).  And my daughter absolutely loved the celebratory dance of joy I did for her.

On a slightly different note, my youngest, Anastasia, it seems her back teeth are coming in, so it took her a couple of hours with daddy by her side praying and loving on her, (and a little help from Infant Tylenol) until she finally fell asleep.

After they fell asleep, I just stood there in awe, looking at them, so small, so innocent, so vulnerable, and my heart was filled with so many emotions. I remembered the feelings I had when I first heard they were conceived. I remembered being filled with inexplicable joy when for each one, I saw their sonogram, and heard their heartbeats for the first time.  I remembered watching them being born.   I remembered the sense of wonder and awe I felt when I held them in my arms for the first time, and what I felt towards them gave me a glimpse then of how much God loves me, as His son.

I’m so glad I fought to be in their lives.  I’m so glad I didn’t give up.  And I’m determined, that by God’s grace, I will not fail them.  In a way, they are my  “raison d’etre”.  I’ve heard it preached that having children is the purest form of evangelism.  Funny how something like potty training can bring these thoughts about…

Sooo…

… the purpose of this blog is to chronicle some of the challenges and victories of being a single father of three children.  I’ve been doing this now for a little over two weeks, and I have to say, “hat’s off”  in admiration to any and all women (and some men, but it’s mostly women) who have no choice but to do this on their own, and do it sucessfully.