Modern-day “wisdom” wants to assert that we can do all things.  That there is a world and a place where we can “have it all“.  We can spend money, but still be in-budget.  We can be casual with our marriages and still stay committed for life.   

We can have loads of hobbies and still raise balanced children. We can do it our way, and still have self-less results.

But it can’t be that way, can it?

This is a photo my husband took back when we had Anna and Baby Josh.  A simpler time:).  This is a  photo Pat took near our kitchen sink.  Using his Digital Rebel, and and sorts of settings and backgrounds.  It is a really good shot, and I am proud of Pat’s skill in taking it.

But, the reason this photo stands out to me…is because it’s telling in more ways than one.  Time stood still more back then.

Used to be that Pat and I would tuck the kids in bed and he would drive downtown late at night to get the “perfect shot”.  I remember waiting up for hours, while he waited for hours for the moon to light the back of a building, enough that he could capture what was in his mind.

And then he’d come home and I would look at all his proofs, vaguely interested.  He would be enthused with what he had learned and experimented with.  And I would be happy, because he was excited.  And that made me happy.

But now, he has to sacrifice more.  The days of trolling around for the “perfect” setting and shot, take a back-seat to the best things: the people we have created and want to raise well.

  Nights are dictated by responsibilities: training the kids and working out life with them, spending time together, so that when they are grown and gone there is still an “us”.  And fulfilling obligations to work and church.  His plate is full.  He looks a little more weary, as any Dad of a new baby will.

But, with his daily investment in our family- his tireless work.  His willingness to lay aside the good things for the best things….I don’t know that I have ever loved or respected him more.