Kate and I have a calendar in our bathroom. Its the flip kind that isn't year specific. Everyday there is either a Bible passage, a prayer, or a thought for the day. I like it. Most days, Kate wakes up about 10 minutes before I do and will flip the calendar by the time that I make it in there to brush my teeth and get my day started.
A few of them in the last few weeks have struck me as particularly powerful.
May 17: When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. -Ecclesiastes 7:14
May 19: Love is good above all others, which alone maketh every burden light. - Thomas A Kempis
May 26: It is our duty, as parents, to be teachers. We are not doing right by our children unless we teach them how to live in a godly manner. Instead of lectures, though, we should strive to give our children constant, positive examples. It is through our own lives that we must teach them Christian values.
may 29: The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
And now, todays...June 6: Not where I breathe, but where I love, I live. - Robert Southey
I'm probably beginning to sound like a broken record in this blog, but I view everything so differently now than I did in the past. My day doesn't start with a coffee and a donut anymore without seeing my kids and giving them a hug. It doesn't start with a cursory kiss to my wife as I worry more about my political ineptness at work than the spritual and emotional well being of my family. Those days are in the past.
Every day now has a clear focus. Whether it is a school day for me or a weekend day with everyone, the focus is on the family. Kate is such an amazing mother. She is also an amazing wife and companion. She helps keep me centered. Without her in my life, or for that matter, the kids' lives, we'd be lost. She has helped remind me that there is meaning beyond what lies outside my home's door.
She helps me find a little bit more of myself and my children every single day. Some people are born to be mothers. Kate is one of them.
-----
The school year is almost done for Emma and Carter! They are so excited. Its kind of bittersweet with Carter. For the last two school years, Kate and I have been taking him down to school with us. The preschool at Merrill Palmer has literally been a 5 minute walk to the Rackham Building where our department is located. I'm going to miss our rides to and from school everyday. He may not be the most talkative kid on the planet, but just being around him makes me happy. I'm going to miss peeking at him every few minutes in the rear-view mirror and seeing him sing along to whatever we're listening to on the way in.
At the same time, though, he'll be going to school with Emma in the fall. She's such a little mother hen at times. She may pick on him from time to time at home, but when we're out and about, she protects him. She's going to look out for her little buddy next year. They'll go to latchkey together in the morning. She'll help him find new friends. When she went to Kindergarten two years ago, I was nervous for her. With Carter though, he has Emma. He'll be ok.
