He is Greater.....John 3:30 says He must become greater, I must become less"

Parenting.  No one is really, actually prepared for it.  We try to be.  We read books, we buy stuff, we talk to other parents....we do the childbirth classes and we research breastfeeding tips and tricks....this is my world, its what I do with new families each and every day.  I help them problem-solve through pregnancy, lactation, baby-proofing, potty training, discipline, school readiness......we discuss attachment and trauma-informed care with adoption and other scenarios..... We can only prepare for a fraction of what will actually happen as we parent.  Maybe your kid will throw a fit in public and you will be helpless to fix it.  Maybe someone else will step in and do a better thing than you know how to do...... Maybe your kid will go out and do something independent and wonderful and you can't know if they are being good or bad..... Maybe your kid will be exposed to something horrible that you didn't get a chance to prepare them for.....and they will have to proc

There is a travelling exhibit in town this weekend.  We are having one of those small town weekend celebrations where people come out for cruise night, food, dunk tanks and parades in small town America.  It's awesome.  The travelling exhibit is a dedication to the tragedy of 911.....and highlights a fire fighter (among many others) who sacrificed his life that day.  Early today, knowing I was planning to tour the mobile museum, I was remembering 911.  I was on a very hot and sunny walk and I was remembering that day and vividly I could see where I was, what I was doing and who I talked to that day.  I was orienting to my first WIC clinic as a public health nurse.  We were in the basement of the old library in town ( that has since burned down).  I was pregnant with Isaac.  My then sis-in-law was scheduled to babysit Claire for me that day.  She was 2 years old.  The attack started before I left for work that day and my then sis-in-law called me in tears, sure that the world was c