The longer I live, the more I realize how little I know and how much I have to learn from others. I think that parenting has only deepened and further unearthed these feelings of inadequacy. But our God is so good and gracious to bless us with role models. People a little further down the road. Friends who are wiser and can encourage, mentor, and show us what they've learned along their journey. These incredible parents you'll see below unknowingly serve as role models for Jake and me. We've known them for less than a year, but we've quickly grown to admire their strong and godly family life. We frequently say to each other "gosh, what do they do? How have they raised such incredible, wholesome children? What is their secret?"
Take their eldest daughter Cami. When asked by her mother to bring a few props to express her personality, she brings along books. Yes, books! Love that! And Grace, their middle daughter--she has such a sweet spirit and showers affection on our children every week. She's our little L's favorite person at church. By a long shot. In fact, she makes it into our family prayer every evening. And their youngest, Mac. This little guy is a little firecracker with tons of personality and character. I think I captured fifty completely different facial expressions from this guy in under an hour.
Jake and I still don't know their secret. I doubt there is "a secret," a magic formula to follow. But we'll continue to watch and observe, hoping to learn from them along the way. Thank you guys for giving me the chance to document your sweet family! Happy Wednesday, everyone. Thanks for looking.