On Being a Father

2011 has been a year of my dreams coming true. In January of this year, Chattanooga was forecast to receive an 8 inch snowstorm. On the eve of this storm, I rushed home from a baseball conference in Nashville so that I could batten down the hatches. As I walked into the door, it was so wonderful to see my wife after a weekend away from her. As I headed into the bathroom, she had left a positive pregnancy test on the sink and we both embraced in disbelief and joy at the blessing that God had given us another pregnancy. Having recently gone through a miscarriage just a few months prior to this, we were not sure when the Lord would bless us with another one. From day one, Alex and I both felt a peace that this pregnancy was going to be different and different it was.
From the beginning, I was convinced that we needed to have a boy due to the fact that all fathers want to have a son and I have always pictured Alex with a lot of little boys running around the house. On a side note, both Alex and I have a strong sense that the baby we lost in the miscarriage was a boy and we decided to name this child Avery. When the big day of the gender ultrasound arrived, I knew the sex of the child before the ultrasound technician said, "you are going to have a little girl". Let's just say that there was no way this child was a boy based on the view that we got from the ultrasound. My first thought at this news was, "Oh no, what do I know about little girls?" I also thought, "Oh no, I am in trouble now..the chances of me actually going to prison just went up if anyone ever hurts her". Having zero experience with little girls, I felt nervous but I knew that my life was about to take a wonderful turn...having a little girl was going to be so good for me. My final reaction was to look at my wife and say, "Well, I guess this is our little Leighton".
On our second date, I asked my future wife, "If you ever have kids, what would you name them?" She told me enthusiastically, "I would name a little girl Leighton". Stunned, I agreed with her because believe it or not, I have always admired the name from afar. We decided on the middle name of Elyse which means "consecrated to God". Leighton is the only girl name that we ever considered and if we have a second daughter, we will have some work to do to come up with a name for that child. If this baby had been a boy, his name would most likely have been Levi.
September 19, 2011 is a day where my life was forever changed. The Leighton Bear was born at 7:36am and from the moment I saw her, I have been blown away at the miracle that something so pure, wonderful, and beautiful can come out of another human being. We were blessed with a very easy delivery--I think that Alex only pushed for around 25 minutes which is simply unheard of for your first born. When my little girl came out, the first thing I said was, "Give me that little girl now" and it was an incredible honor to be the first person to hold her. Actually, my first response was, "What is the Apgar?" When the nurse said 9, that is when I scooped her up. After she was cleaned up, it was a joy to get to pray over her life with her doctor praying with us.
From a spiritual point of view, I am beginning to see the incarnation of Christ in a whole new way after seeing my daughter being born. Everything that I witnessed is exactly how our Savior entered the world and there are times where I just scratch my head and think, "Lord, you really do not hold any good thing from us".
I could write a book and a half about the events of the last 3 months (learning how to change a diaper, learning that a poopie diaper is actually a huge blessing each time, learning that the NICU at Erlanger hospital is a haven of healing where God's angels of protection are abundant, getting to experience the joy of introducing our daughter to her grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and looking forward to coming home even more now everyday). All of these things have contributed to a very special 2011. Whenever we have our second child, I cannot wait to experience the miracle again.
What is Leighton like and who does she look like? Over the past month, I have seen some of my personality traits emerge from her and I am beginning to feel that she even looks like me....let's hope that she looks like her mother.
A word about my wife: If anyone wants to take notes on the qualities that a man should look for in a wife, come and spend some time with mine. And believe me, I did very little if anything to deserve her. The Lord has outdone himself when He gave her to me. She is simply a profound mother who has literally taught our stubborn daughter how to breast feed, how to sleep in a crib, and how to be a little girl. Everything that our daughter is today is a result of Alex's relentless work.
I am also finding that my focus as a man has shifted. Each decision, whether it be financial, personal, or health wise is now focused in the direction of my daughter and my wife and it is my prayer that the Lord would give me the daily strength to support and lead them well.
As I write this, I continue to love being a math teacher at Chattanooga Christian High School. CCS is a wonderful place to teach and coach. I feel that after 13 years of teaching, I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn about teaching high school students. I continue to find the job to be very challenging and no two days are ever the same. I continue to be motivated to teach juniors and seniors and I am especially motivated to place discipleship above the study of mathematics. I am also motivated to lead the math teachers that I work with as their department head. I have a full and rich job. I have also completed 30 hours of my 33 hour graduate degree and I am looking forward to finishing in May. Alex and I are also anxiously awaiting the birth of my first niece, Sally Ann Slaten who could come at any time now. As we await Christmas, may we all be in wonder of the incarnation and the wonder of getting to be a dad!