Parenting and Roller Coasters

I am pretty sure that Christen wrote about this at some point, but I will reiterate it here: Parenting is a series of ups and downs. Sometimes it feels like the downs are outweighing the ups, especially with a 3-year-old in the house. I feel like there's been  a 3-year-old for 3 years, which is impossible since I only have two children. Nonetheless, it's been amazing to see the major swings that take place over weeks, days, and sometimes hours and minutes.

Just like a roller coaster, so goes parenting. The slow incline that is pregnancy gives way to the rush of speed that is giving birth and the subsequent season of infancy (when you never really sleep, not really), and then you get to the rest of the ride. The twists. The jolts. The dips. The round-abouts. The spirals, both up and down.

Since Christen's passing, it has felt a bit like I'm building a whole new ride to get on. I thought parenting in general was challenging. Single parenting? Wow. So, as I'm designing this thing, here are some of the peaks and valleys I can see being built in to it (based off of actual events over the past 10 days):

Peaks:
- Audrey doing the dishes without being asked
- Hudson taking being a gentleman seriously
- Made up songs/singing along to music in the car
- Playing, playing, playing
- Not needing to watch TV
- Impromptu cuddle time
- Being required to refer to them as Captain America and Princess Audrey (she likes her name)

Valleys:
- Oh! the whining
- Crying over not getting to hear a song, making the wrong snack, selecting the wrong movie, calling someone by the wrong name (see final point of Peaks)
- Hudson forgetting that he's a gentleman
- Audrey taking advantage of being a 'lady'

In this time of building and restructuring, I'm reminded of Christen's mission statement as a mother. She stood for the following:

I will provide love, discipline, counsel, and education so that my children will be trained up in the way of the Lord. I will exemplify a God-centered, Christ-exalting, Bible-saturated life so that they would make choices based on their relationship with the Lord.


I've adopted that as my mission statement as a father (she always took the best wording!). It's on that foundation, the grounding of the glory of God and the revelation of His Word that I, by His grace, will build this new ride.