As we move into June, I’m thinking about Fathers and all the great gifts Dads bring to the feast called Family:

Creator

Two of the most powerful attributes of fatherhood are those of creation and protection.  When we speak of “fathering” something or someone, we’re talking about creating.  Of course a baby seems to be the obvious creation of a parent.  However, as has been said before, its easier to make a baby that raise a baby.  The creator role for a father begins at conception, but great Dads continue the creation process as long as father and child live.

Protector

Ask any Dad and he’ll tell you one of his main jobs, whether he likes it or not, is that of protector.  The role has almost primal roots as fathers feel the need to keep the family safe from all threats.  Dad’s not only pick us up when we fall down, they often teach us how to stand up on our own two feet and if we do fall, how to do so with style and grace.

Explorer

I can’t say that I have a scientific basis for this, but next time you’re out, look to see what position mothers and fathers hold their babies in those front baby carriers.  My informal survey has Moms holding the child facing toward her in a nurturing position, the baby often snuggled in and sleeping peacefully.  The majority of Dads have junior facing out into the world, eyes wide open, just taking it all in.  One of the great gifts Dads give us is permission to get out into the world, take some risks and explore.

Teacher

Dads teach in many ways and most of us begin our lives knowing our Dad is probably the smartest guy on the planet.  Of course, as we reach adolescence we realize that we actually have the knowledge and Dad is a bit of a lump.  However, our Dads endure that time, holding on for the day when ten or twenty or thirty years later, we begin to see the wisdom in his words.

Nurturer

More and more, I see fathers embracing the role of nurturer.  They are taking leaves of absence when their children are born and making time to be with their children as they grow.  When we speak of “mothering,” we’re talking about nurturing.   However, as every father and mother knows, “it takes two to tango.”  The creation and nurturing of our children is not confined to one parent or the other.  And besides, Dads give fantastic hugs!

Let me leave you with a few quotes to ponder as you consider your father and/or your own fatherhood.

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.

~ Mark Twain, Old Times on the Mississippi

One night a father overheard his son pray: Dear God, Make me the kind of man my Daddy is. Later that night, the Father prayed, Dear God, Make me the kind of man my son wants me to be.

~ Anonymous

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

~ Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Sharon McGee

As we move into May I want to take a moment to honor a group of dedicated, loving, giving, nurturing people — Moms.  None of us would be here without them! When we think of motherhood we often think of child birth.  However, as all you Moms out there already know, the work of a mother only begins with the birth of a child.  All across this planet mothers maintain homes (even when a structure called a “house” doesn’t exist), kiss hurts, listen to fears, thoughts and dreams, hold us in their arms even if we’re thousands of miles away, keep us in their prayers and raise us up with their love.

Of course, Mom’s are human.  Like anyone else they struggle and sometimes falter under whatever burden life may hold.  However, I think we can all learn from motherhood at its best.   A mother’s love:

Knows no bounds. Mom’s love us even when we’ve made mistakes or fail.  That primal connection of love between a mother and a child cannot be easily broken.

Is fierce. You can see the ferocity of motherhood in the natural world as a mother bird will fight to the death for her chicks.  Likewise human mothers have a ferocity of heart deep within that perseveres in the face of great hardship and protects to the very end.

Always hopes for the best. While we might not always agree with Mom’s desires, her intentions always lean to the good.  Imagine a world where each of us sincerely had only the best intentions in our relationships and interactions with others.

Listens to our hearts. Some people say Moms have eyes in the back of their heads!  Why?  Because that love comes from a deep, primal connection with her children.  She can hear not only the words in the present, but the context of those words in that child’s entire life.

Is Patient. Nine months is a long time to await a glorious coming out party!  Mother’s learn patience from the beginning with pregnancy and then as they experience the challenges as their child develops.

The Apostle Paul, in describing love, offered what I think is one of the best descriptions of the ideal of a Mother’s love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 (New International Version)

Whether you are a woman or a man, a mother or not, let’s take the month of May to do two important things.

1. Consider how each of us can bring the attributes of love into our daily living.  How will you be a more loving, caring person going forward?
2. Let’s give thanks for these wonderful, awesome ladies who have given us so much.

Have a great May filled with love,

Sharon McGee

Rejoice ~He is Risen!

Embrace Life & Celebrate Change

Jesus is risen from the grave!  The disciples of Jesus, from the moment they realized He was alive, entered a new season of life with opportunities and new challenges.

Like the early Christians, we sometimes find ourselves thrust by circumstances into a new season.  And also like the disciples, we may find it a frightening experience.  But changes are necessary to make way for new opportunities.

If Jesus did not die, we could not be forgiven.  If He did not rise again, we could not have new life.  If He did not ascend into Heaven, the Holy Spirit could not come.

This change brought new opportunities. In our lives, changes can be gradual or happen instantly. This season we celebrate the Risen Savior and how His resurrection changed the world forever.

Celebrate change!  As you face the twists and turns in life, stop resisting them.  In fact, embrace life through all its changes and embrace the new opportunities that follow.

May your heart be touched and your life be changed.

Jesus is Risen!  He is Risen indeed!

Wishing you a very Happy and Joyous Easter Season,

Sharon

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.

Annie Dillard, author

Do you love life?  Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.

Benjamin Franklin

There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.

Brian Tracy, author and speaker

In The First 90 Days, a book for new managers, Michael Watkins points to research that suggests there are several common traps managers fall prey to that undermine their success.  Two of those traps, taking on too much and misalignment, also happen to be two of the key impediments to effective time management.  Let’s look at these a little more closely.

Taking on too much

Being the effective time manager you are, you probably have a to do list capturing all of the actions you want to take, from completing that morning workout to cleaning the kitchen to dropping the kids off at school to preparing for that client meeting to interviewing a potential employee to meeting with your team to scheduling that out of town trip to checking in on the status of a number of projects to having dinner with the family, making time for the kids, spending some protected time with your spouse to reading email, listening to voicemails and reviewing reports….  Sound familiar?  If you’re like most of us, the list above doesn’t begin to cover all of the many tasks, actions, projects, meetings and relationships that you must navigate every single day.  How many of us look at our schedules and lives and wonder, “How am I possibly going to get everything done?” Read the rest of this entry »

Here comes February and with it, of course Valentine’s Day. What better time to talk about love. Ah, amore! We love to be loved, enjoying being in love, long to give love, struggle to find love, have broken hearts because of love, build lives around love, yearn to do what we love and sing songs, write novels and make movies about love. So the question this month is, in the words of the great Tina Turner, “What’s love got to do with it?”

Let’s start by defining what we mean by love. In the Christian tradition the Greek word agape refers to a selfless, altruistic, unconditional love. Joined with eros, a sexual, physical love, two people choose to love each other as they love themselves and to express that love emotionally, spiritually and physically. As many of us know through our own personal experience, agape, this love thing, is a messy business! Why messy? Here are just a few reasons that come to mind:

We focus on what the other needs without considering our own needs.

Maybe you’ve felt this way sometimes: you give and give and give, and no one ever gives back. Sometimes that dynamic happens when we’re in a very dysfunctional situation. But for today, let’s look at this from within ourselves. If I really cared about myself, would I continue to put myself in a situation where my mind, body and spirit were gradually being diminished? All of us have been there to some extent in our lives. And the root cause of our unhappiness? We don’t (or didn’t) really love who we are (or were)– yet. We see our darker side and our failings, without appreciating what we bring to the world. If I don’t love myself, I’ll have a very difficult time making space for someone else to love me. While many of us believe that love is something “out there” waiting for us (or at least that’s what the movies tell us), true love starts from within ourselves. You can only love another to the depth that you love yourself. This Valentine’s Day ~ make time to fall deeper in love with yourself and you will experience your love grow for others. To Thine Own Self Be True . . . . Read the rest of this entry »