An Open Letter to My One Year Old Son

Dear Asher,

By the time you’re old enough to read this you will probably be embarrassed that I wrote a sappy, father-to-son letter and posted it on the internet for the whole world to see. Good thing you can’t stop me.

Don’t worry, this won’t take long, and I promise that one day you will be glad that I gave you a few of these pointers…

From the moment you were born I knew you were something special. Your eyes glimmered in the bright hospital lights as you took your first few breaths huddled against your mom. It was surreal. Here you were – 9 months in the making – 100% real and 100% my son, for life!

There was no amount of preparing I could’ve done to ready myself for the weight of that thought. I felt unqualified. And I was.

Your first diaper change was an adventure, to say the least. I was awkward and clumsy and your tiny little legs did their best to squirm away from my grasp. And it got messy, real messy.

That is how I learned my first rule of diaper changing and parenting: “Do your best, then clean up the rest.”

Thank God for His grace because I needed every bit of it. The funny this is, it’s been 12 months and I need His grace now more than ever. I got better at changing your diapers, but not much better. In fact, just a few weeks ago I contaminated our entire house during one of your diaper changes.

That’s the way life works. Regardless of how much you learn, what you become, or what you do in life – living by God’s grace is your only option.

God’s grace makes you better, but not perfect. You’ll still mess up and you’ll still need help – all the time. Thankfully, Jesus is always willing. I could say a lot more about that, but I pray that I lead you towards Jesus by example and not just my words. It works best that way.

I’ll just encourage you with three more simple tips:

1.) Don’t ever stop thanking Him

2.) Don’t ever stop serving Him.

3.) And don’t ever forget how much He loves you – no matter what.

Next, I want you to know that you should never take your family for granted. Yeah, I know. That may sound a little biased, but I’m not talking about just your mom and me.

You have grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins that love you and support you more than you will ever know. You will grow up next to them and see them often, but count yourself blessed because there are so many people who grow up without that kind of support.

They have wisdom that is priceless and support that will never end. It will take years for you to realize the true value of that – but until then, just take my word for it.

Finally, as you become an adult you will begin to understand the real importance of your friends. True friends are rare, but don’t worry – it’s supposed to be that way.

Just be the kind of friend you would want and you will eventually find yourself with the kind of friends that you need. Share your hopes, share your dreams, and then support each other as you chase after them. Investing in your friends is one of the safest investments you can make it, so go all-in.

You have your whole life ahead you so try new things. Contribute more than you consume. Give away your love generously and your opinions sparingly. Laugh at the small things. Be the first to say, “I’m sorry.” And always, always over use, “I love you” – especially with your mom 😉