If you’re a mom, there’s a dad to go with you and vice
versa. You may be raising your children as a single parent or like me, you may
be blessed with a ‘parenting partner’ who has been active and present in all
phases of your parenting journey, but either way you can’t be a mom or dad
without each other. It’s simple biology.
Each week I share something I’ve experienced and learned as
a mom and nanna. But this week I want to give credit to my parenting partner
and love of my life, John.
John worked diligently and sacrificially as a law
enforcement officer for thirty years; putting in long, stressful hours so that
I could be a stay-at-home mom and wife. It’s true he wasn’t always able to
attend every school program, 4-H event, or church outing. And there were many
nights he wasn’t there to eat dinner with us or say ‘good night’ before they
went to bed. But as our youngest daughter Emma said a couple of years ago, “I
get it now. Any time Dad wasn’t able to be there was simply so you could be,
Mom.”
John may not have been there for everything, but he was
there for the really important things. He was there to help me bring each of
our four children into the world. He was there to make memories on family
camping trips. He was there to cheer Zach on at soccer games, cross-country
meets, and track meets. He was there to help the kids show their livestock at
the fair. He was there to worship with them in church (unless he had to work).
He was there when each of them accepted Christ as their Savior. He was to take
them sledding, teach them how to work hard, discipline them, rescue them from
run-away ponies and angry roosters, teach them why and how to choose between
the microwave and the hoodie (that’s another story for another day) and to turn
cartwheels in the living room and dance with his daughters to “Alvin and the
Chipmunks Christmas Album”. But most of all, he was (and still is) there to show
them what it is to be a man of integrity, honor, loyalty, grace, and to love
the LORD.
The lesson I want to leave you with this week is this:
parenting is a team-effort. Children need both a mom and a dad. Your roles are
different, yet the same. You both have a responsibility to make memories,
discipline, invest yourselves into your children’s lives, and to love
unconditionally.
Thank you, John, for parenting with me. Happy Birthday!
Love,
Momma D
Copyright 2015 Darla Noble. No part of this can be used or copied without permission from the author.
