A blog about faith, intentional living and the joys and struggles of married life.
On our blog we are always working hard to come up with new ways to share our faith and our life with you. We are so proud and excited to share this news. If you are a regular reader you know that this has been nine months in the making.
Inspired by other second a day videos, Nicole and I decided to capture our nine months of prepping and planning for our first child. Introducing the newest contributor to A Couple of Catholics:
There isn’t much in the world that still surprises me. Admittedly, I am a fairly cynical person by nature. That being said, there are a few common courtesies that I would have assumed others would be privy to during this pregnancy. Now before I sound like a total diva…allow me to explain.
Dear Son or Daughter–
As I count down the days to Fatherhood, I’ve been reflecting on the kind of dad I’d like to be and what it means to be a father. I know that I’ll figure out the “dad thing” as it comes, but this is meant to be a summary of my fatherly aspirations before you are born.
There are many places to find examples of fatherhood. While your mom prefers to read books about parenting or just talk to our friends who have kids, I find myself quietly observing other parents. I’m like a psychologist in a human zoo. (Yes, like the monkeys at the zoo)
I like to watch other dads in how they handle different situations. What happens when the child throws a tantrum? How does the dad play with his kids? I’ve found this a good way to also see what not to do, particularly when I see a father who lacks interest or responsibility in public. I will take these to heart and do my best.
Beyond watching random dads, I think it makes sense to look at my experience…
You don’t need to be Catholic for long, or even study its theology in any sort of depth to realize that there is no shortage of misconceptions about Catholicism. As a former theology teacher and missionary, I’ve encountered many people who think they know the Catholic Church, sadly they hold so many misunderstandings about our beliefs and teachings. Not that I can blame them…many Catholics don’t understand their faith. Naturally it seemed fitting to put together a list of the common misconceptions I hear about the Catholic Church. Sure there are plenty more than this post covers, but these are the ones that I have most often been faced with explaining.
I’m a tall guy–six foot foot five to be exact. I get into awkward situations because of my height. I call this “tall people problems” (aka #tallpeopleprobs). On a regular basis my wife points out how most of my tshirts look tiny on me and when I go to my in-laws house I feel Gandolph in the Hobbit.
Well, I sort of had my first awkward tall moment as a father while at a BBQ with a Catholic community group we are involved in.
While some women may revel in the process of creating a baby registry, swooning over all the cute and little clothes, scanning every item that fits their fancy. I had quite a different experience. I started out hopeful walking into Buy Buy Baby that fateful afternoon with every expectation it was going to be one of the more enjoyable parts of this pregnancy. After all what isn’t great about creating a formalized list so the world will know what you want other people to buy you…because just straight up asking for stuff, well that would be rude. Little did I realize how much I had greatly underestimated the power of pregnancy hormones. Continue reading
I’m tired of Facebook debates. This past week, I intentionally held back my gut reaction to blast social media with my opinions about the Hobby Lobby ruling (although, it’s no secret that I was happy about the outcome). I was hoping that the ruling would spark a greater understanding and conversation around religious liberty. It pains me to see this issue, which deserves true discourse, get condensed into a few sound bites instead.
Think about it… when was the last time you read a comment thread that was well-intentioned and had well-formed arguments–true dialogue on the web?
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