Life

Today I had a great day.  I was outside.  I finished up a little fire pit project, I mowed our lawn, I tilled the garden.  And being outside by myself I had time to think today.  What was I thinking about?  A great question. My answer.  One simple word that has so much new meaning to me.

Life.

My beautiful bride and I have have stepped into a brand new view of that word ever since we found out we were pregnant.  I have been through a lot of stages of meaning with that simple little word.

First, life was my own.  I was in charge. My desires. My wants. My schedule.

Once I said "I do" the word  life took on a whole different meaning.  I learned that my previous view on that word was very selfish, very one sided and made me the center of my own universe.  Marriage has helped me realize many things, but one of the greatest is that "life" is a shared thing.  That I need to consider her before myself, that I need to think about: Her desires. Her wants. Her schedule.  The word life and what it looks like as a shared thing has given it so much more depth and meaning to me.

Now we have created life.  I see why God has put these things in order the way he has because our marriage and my realizations on life, shared life, has helped prepare me for the creation of life.  I hope that I can now not only put my wife before myself, but put my child before myself as well.  I want to be able to raise this baby with my wife in such a selfless giving way that the baby will experience love just by watching how I care for it.

This I know, that my definition of the word life will continue to morph as soon as this baby enters the scene in 6 months.  But I am very grateful that I continue to learn and grow in my own life.

Chris