Part 4: My Parent’s 40th Anniversary

For my parents 40th wedding anniversary I did a little interview and I’m sharing their wisdom.  If you missed the first three parts you can read them here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

How did having kids affect things?

We wanted kids.  We were so glad to have kids.  It did change everything though.  The biggest change was being involved in all the activities you kids participated in.  But it also strengthened our marriage because there was a greater love than just the two of us.  We HAD to work together just to keep up.  

Would you do it all over again?

We would do it all over again but just do some things differently.  There would be more emphasis on family and our marriage instead of so much emphasis on the church.  Wish we had made better long range plans.  Wish we had used vacation for fun instead of visiting family.  We’ve been blessed and we’re thankful.  In order to make it to 50 yrs we’re gonna take better care of our health and take it one day at a time.  But we don’t live with any regrets and would do it all again.

Sometimes I wonder if the difficulty of having kids is just us or our generation.  So it’s a little reassuring to know that even for our parents having kids was a challenge.  I like John Maxwell’s quote that having grandchildren is the reward for not killing your children.  My parents probably agree with that completely.  Having kids is definitely a blessing we are very thankful for and I pray all the time that I become a better dad.

My parents gave Shawna and me a huge compliment about doing a good job balancing family, work, and church involvement.  That is something we struggle with from time to time in order to keep on track.  We’re making plans for our next family vacation and it gives us something to look forward to through the day to day hustle.

Shawna and I have only been married almost 11 years and we agree with my parents comment after their 40 years about doing it all again but doing some things differently.  We’ve all made mistakes we would take back but I when I’m older I want to be able to say I don’t have any regrets.  I believe that comes from having peace that God is guiding our lives along a path and everything is happening for a reason.