family^(3/3)

What I must say

There’s a fear which keeps surfacing in my psyche. It’s the fear that I will be taken away from my children by a society increasingly free to exercise violence towards nonconformity. This fear arises most often when I read articles about the narrow edge our society balances upon with the upcoming presidential election. On a political level, I do not care whether one votes for a Republican or a Democratic candidate.…

Fatherhood boils down to watching my own childhood

I watch [my daughter’s actions] from above, and this, I’m realizing, is what fatherhood seems to boil down to: watching my own childhood a second time, from a different vantage point. It’s a chance to remember and a chance, perhaps, to see that my mistakes and fears were not so unique. This other person is having them right now, all over again. In that sense, it’s also a chance to forgive myself.…

There is a fear most parents share

There’s a fear I presume most parents share: that your child will be so different from you that you’ll never truly connect. You’ll love them no matter what; you know that to be true. But a part of you — perhaps the more selfish part — also wants to find common ground. You want a shared interest, something to talk about, some private ritual, some inside joke, something to reinforce the genetic lifeline between you.…

Mom's first Chicago visit

My mom, who will henceforth be called “Mema” in honor of her ol' grandma name, came to visit! Here are some pics; it was a lovely time. At The Beach Mema twirling Royal in Lake Michigan. She spun both Royal and Graham, then needed a break! At The Shedd Aquarium The tank's full of sting rays you can touch. Royal and Graham both managed to touch one, but Graham would have stayed all day while Royal was ready to move on in fifteen minutes.…

Tend his vineyard

The unrighteousness of my family in broken relationships. mom and grandma brother and mom brother and uncle uncle, aunt and mom I have been assigned this vineyard to labor for the fruit of right relationships. God chose the right man for the job. restoration between me and my mom right relationship between Graham and Royal right relationship between me and Amie A family network diagram could be helpful to illustrate a the unrighteous network and what a righteous network could be.…

Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.…