11 years

It is so hard to believe that 11 years ago this day, Shayna Kathleen was born into this world. She was a pretty big newborn. She weighed 9+ lbs. I look at her and of course I can't help to try to recall what happened to the past 11 years. That is more than a decade (I thought I would show off my smarts a little with that statement). I can't wait to see what dreams she reaches for and what lives she impacts.

I am always telling her: "life is about relationships and relationships are about communication" (feel free to write that down, its a good one). I believe if she can learn to deal with people issues in the early years of school then she will be better equipped to deal with them later in life. I tell her to learn how to communicate with the difficult people because life is full of them. Invest into relationships by becoming a good communicator.

I remember when she was too little to even talk. She would cry (communicate) and I would tell her "Shayna, calm down and talk to daddy." Believe it or not, she would normally comply. My mom saw Shayna in a bit of a frustrated tantrum and was trying to calm her down when I walked over and said "Calm down and talk to daddy." My mom said "yeah right, like that is going to work." No sooner did those words exit my moms mouth - Shayna sucked the tears back into her eyes and pointed and cooed calmly. All my mom could say was "wow, who would've thought." Of course I was flaunting a little...

Since the early stages of life, I taught Shayna to communicate her feelings with words. I believe that is why we still to this day have a great relationship with words. I love when she comes to me and shares how she feels. Of course it's not all positive. Sometimes she says things like "I don't even know how I feel. I just feel blah", or "I feel like I want to run" or "scream into my pillow"... I love that she can communicate these things instead of moping around and making me guess what is wrong.

My point. As a father I love when my children communicate with me. As a christian, I know our Heavenly Father loves when we communicate with Him. Next time you are feeling blah or like you want to run or like scream into your pillow, pause and tell your Father. He cares and wants to hear it. He tells us to come to Him when we are tired or carrying burdens and He will give us comfort and rest. (Matthew 11:28)

As I look at how fast the last 11 years have passed, I can't help be sad and excited. Sad because I am older and now have visible gray hair but excited to see what is on the horizon for this life.

We don't know how much time we have left and before we know it another decade will have come and gone. Make good decisions today so you don't have to look back and wish you would have done things different.

Happy birthday Shayna. I love you little girl.