The bullet's left the barrel...

You can plan, train, practice, alter, and prep to do everything as correct as possible, right up until the bullet leaves the barrel, but once the bullet leaves the barrel, there is nothing more you can do... you can't take it back... it's on it's own.  Fortunately, with our kids, it's not that final.  We can still help, and train, and consult... but at some point our kids are on their own and at that point you'll have to hope the planning, training, practicing, altering and prepping were enough to give them a strong foundation on a solid path... that they will choose.

As the father of a daughter who will likely face challenges in this world that are far beyond what her mother and I have dealt with, I've done my best, with my wife, to prepare her to stand on her own and hopefully, someday, the good Lord above will put a loving, caring, Christian... and manly... man in her path that she can partner with to travel through life.  We also realize that with even Christians having a divorce rate of over fifty percent, she still needs to be able to take care of herself, and possibly even her children someday... on her own.  We, and we've taught her too, don't plan to fail... but we do plan for reality.

So for our one and only... our daughter... who graduated from high school a couple of weeks ago, heads to college this fall, and turns eighteen today... some photos of your journey so far... and the lyrics of Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance".

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,

You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,

May you never take one single breath for granted,

GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance.

I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,

Never settle for the path of least resistance,

Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',

Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',

Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,

When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,

Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,

Tell me who wants to look back on their years 

and wonder where those years have gone.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance. 

Dance...

I hope you dance. 

I hope you dance.

I hope you dance.

Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along.

Tell me who wants to look back on their years 

and wonder where those years have gone.

I hope you dance.

I hope you dance.

I hope you dance.

I hope you dance.

We don't have all the answers to parenting, but we want our daughter prepared for life beyond us... and to be a life-long learner for a life we can't even imagine.  We still have her back, but she's legally an adult now... and making her own decisions and choices... some we'll have influence over while she's under our roof... but she's setting up her own position, choosing her equipment, and pulling the trigger... because... now it's up to her what happens... when...

The bullet's left the barrel...