Are We Getting Old?

Devin and I are dumbfounded as we contemplate Kristen's 21st birthday. We were only 23 and 22, respectively, when she was born. We felt that we were so grown up. We had finished college and were ready to take on the world. Now we look back and see that we were babies having babies.

We were the first in our group of friends to have a child. Kristen was a surprise and we had no idea what we were getting into. Many of our friends weren't even married yet and here we were starting a family! In many ways we grew up with her. It's amazing how your world and focus changes when you have a child. We were as unprepared to be parents as anyone. I don't think you are ever prepared for the way your life will change when you have a baby. We had to grow up. In many ways we fought it. We would act out trying to recapture some of that feeling of freedom that happens before kids, or even before marriage. Luckily for us, our circumstances were not such that we could shirk our responsibilities. You see when Kristen was born, we lived 10 hours from family. I couldn't get mad and run home to mom. Devin couldn't just disappear with his buddies. It was just the two of us. We had to work at it.

Can you imagine that? It takes work. Love and a family just don't happen. They are work. They are like a garden. You work the soil, pull the weeds, fertilize and water. Too much or too little of any of these and the garden struggles to survive. I'm thankful that both Devin and I had the desire to tend our garden. Kristen and then later Steven just added to the desire to see it flourish.

Tend your garden. Whether it is a marriage, a family, or a friendship. It is a blessing. Give thanks to God for it.