This is not normal. This is not fun. This is actually the worst feeling ever, but I know this is temporary.
Today, my dad walked over four miles to our house so he could see Elliana through the window—again.
This has become a regular thing. It breaks my heart that my dad can’t hold my daughter. However, as you can clearly see on my dad’s face, he’s overflowing with joy just to see her. He only got to hold her twice before this pandemic locked us down. I hate that having a window between us is the only way she can see her grandpa, but again, I remember this is temporary.
While my wife was pregnant, I don’t think an hour went by where my dad didn’t brag about becoming a grandpa soon. Now, his granddaughter is finally here and the only thing he can hold are the daily pictures we send him. However, he knows this is temporary.
Even if you aren’t worried about catching it yourself:
Stay home for the new dads and moms who can’t wait to have the world meet their new baby.
Stay home for the grandparents who want to hold their new grandchild more than anything.
Stay home for the pregnant mom and nervous dad who are about to welcome home their newest family member.
Stay home for the great grandparents who know time is a gift.
Stay home for all the businesses who anxiously wait to open back up.
Stay home for the teachers and kids who are eager to get back to school.
Besides becoming a meme - I live in Zeeland, Michigan. My dad is a local pastor and my mom works at our local Holland Hospital. I work at Hudsonville Ice Cream where we proudly make the World’s best ice cream.
I married my beautiful wife, Lydia, just over 2 years ago. She is a special education teacher. She is my rock and deserves so much credit for always putting up with my shenanigans. If you look at my Instagram, you’ll quickly realize I’m not afraid to make a fool out of myself - but she loves me all the same.
Our first child, Elliana, was born 5 weeks ago. She is a beam of light in this dark time. My wife makes being a parent look like a walk in the park, and it’s been so beautiful to watch her be a mom. I believe when you have a kid, you find a piece of yourself that you didn’t know was there. You also feel a different type of love that you didn’t know existed. Becoming a dad has been the best thing to ever happen to me. It’s only been 5 weeks with this new life and it’s already flying by. I’m biased, but my daughter is the cutest thing in the world and that is absolutely no credit to myself... I'm thankful to God every day she got her looks from my wife!
These robotics kids are going to shape our future. I think this every time I watch an elementary, middle school, or high school competition. My thoughts go back many years to when my middle child, who was six at the time, went with my husband to the high school robotics shop. They were only stopping in briefly to pick up some engineering kits, but my child quickly became captivated by what the “big kids” were doing. He stood quietly watching until one student walked over and asked if he would like to see what they were working on. My son,...
Sometimes foster care looks like bringing a child from a hard place into your home. Sometimes it looks like sitting at a ball field with a former foster love’s mom and being her village. He’s the one who has brought me to my knees more times than my own children. He’s the one I lie awake at night thinking about. He’s the one I beg the father to protect. He’s the one who makes me want to get in the trenches over and over again. It’s our Bubba. So much of the story is not mine to tell, but the...
When we decided to give our preschooler another year before kindergarten, I thought the hardest part would be explaining it to other people. I was wrong. The hardest part was the afternoon her teacher asked to talk. In that split second in the pick-up line, my heart sank. I assumed the worst. I braced myself for a conversation about behavior, about something we had somehow missed, about whether her strong personality was causing problems. Instead, it became the moment that confirmed what we already knew. We were not holding her back. We were giving her time. Our daughter is bright....
My life changed on that beautiful autumn day. The thing is, nothing really happened. Not really. My life kind of went on as usual. A fly on the wall might even say it was a great day. I brought my 3-year-old son to an animal farm for a Halloween event. He was quirky as usual and a bit ornery that day. Aloof. “Come feed the baby animals,” I pleaded. No, thank you. Crowds of excited children? Absolutely not. Buckets of candy? You can keep them. My heart ached watching my beautiful, blonde-haired boy wander into a field alone, away from...
Last night I watched an episode of Shrinking. If you haven’t jumped into the series yet, it’s one of those that hits the heart hard- at least for me. The episode centered on the birth of a baby, while one of the characters grappled with the closing years of life. Spoiler alert: as the elder of the group cradled this new life in his arms, bridging generations across the hospital room, the moment of realization of how fast life goes hit like a ton of bricks. “Enjoy the ride, kid.” The final words of this episode are sitting with me,...
With four kids at three different schools, our days are full. Between sports practices, music lessons, clubs, rehearsals, games, meets, and playdates, it feels like we’re constantly heading somewhere. I love that my children are involved in activities, but occasionally, it’s nice to have some downtime. When I get a text or email that a practice has been canceled, it’s usually a huge relief. Last week, after-school sports were cancelled due to heavy rain. When I picked up my youngest son from school, I told him we’d be going straight home for the rest of the afternoon. He looked surprised....
I have a confession: Yesterday I let my 11-year-old play with fire. Like literally. We live in the country, there is still wet snow on the ground, and he’s done it with his dad at least 20 times. But yesterday was the fifth consecutive day of no school, and probably the twentieth consecutive day of him asking to have a small fire without dad. Part of me did it out of laziness. Part of me did it out of selfishness. And part of me did it out of nostalgia. Here’s the thing—when I was 11, I was already babysitting (like...
He doesn’t remember the day she came home.But she has never known a world without him. From the beginning, he was there first. The first to reach for her hand. The first to explain the rules. The first to decide what was fair and what absolutely was not. He didn’t know he was being assigned a role. He just stepped into it. Big brother. She followed him everywhere. Into rooms she technically wasn’t invited into. Into games she didn’t fully understand. Into stories she insisted on hearing again and again. She wanted to do what he did, say what he...
I was in the middle of the post-holiday clean-up chaos when something hit me. My oldest daughter is seven, and while it feels like an age that doesn’t get talked about much, it really is turning out to be such a sweet spot. It hit me as we were redesigning her room. A change that occurred when she broke my mama-heart a few weeks prior by saying she didn’t think she wanted a princess room anymore. While everything in me wanted to try to convince her to keep it, stay small and sweet just a little longer, I knew I...
God made a gymnast with fearless grace, strength in her heart, and a fire in her spirit. He molded her courage, steady and true, and quietly whispered, “We believe in you.” He taught her balance when life feels chaotic and messy, to leap into her faith and stick each landing just right. When she stumbles, He is always right there to help her rise back up with faith in her soul and a spark in her eyes. Each floor routine with the grace of a swan; each move is a dream, all built on dedication and grit. God made her...
By Josh Gillett 
by Charissa Bates 
by Crystal Ligon 
by Ashley Butler 
by Alaine Flynn 
by Amy Keyes 
by Krystal Sieben 
by Megan Kewaza 
by Lisa Ingrassia 
