And away we go...

This blog was an idea that I had a few months back that, like several good intentions, kept getting pushed off due to the inherent distractions that come from living in 2011.  Recently, one of our friends, Caren Davis, from church started a blog and I decided to dive in and finally proceed down this path of mediocre english students attempting to look like a professional journalist in the day and age where you literally can be anyone you want, or at least pretend to be one on the internet.  Thank you Caren for pushing me over that ledge.  All that it could cost me is my reputation and anyone who stumbles upon it to take a stab at how low my IQ really might be.

A quick summary of my life:
My wife, Emily, and I have been married for (oh crap - I hope this is right) 14 years as of this August.  We have three wonderful children and live just outside of Nashville, TN after moving here in 2006 with Blue Bell Creameries.  I love my God, my family, my church home, and my job.  Wow, that only took three sentences?  I am going to have to go deeper...

The reason for the blog?  Like previously mentioned, I have three extremely amazing kids that I live for each day.  Brady is 6, Alex is 4, and Katelynn is 2.  I want to give them an opportunity to one day have something in concrete form that will allow them to know more about who their dad really is and what floats around in my brain when traveling through our daily struggles, love, and laughter.  Think of it as a "behind the scenes" of our parenting experience.  This is probably why we will attempt to shield them from computers until they are 18 so I don't screw up and give up all our secrets, although I am sure there will be enough challenges at that time to occupy our time.  I also want them to know that there is a purpose for them and that I believe that God has placed them on this Earth for a very important and specific reason.  The funny thing is that we may go through our lives without ever knowing what that reason was, but every life you touch can have an exponential impact down the line.  I am not even sure of mine yet, but I hope that through writing this I can have a better, more clear understanding of what that might be so I don't let those opportunities slip by.  I think it is important to understand that we don't, and probably never will, have things "all figured out" and that is okay.

The reason for the title?  This one was pretty easy.  While Emily was in Chicago on a business trip the last four days, I was driving the kids out to a drive-in movie on Friday night.  (Sidebar:  If you are going to show "Cars 2" at the drive-in, make sure it is the FIRST movie you show and not the second!  Why would anyone have to suffer the "Zookeeper" at any point in their lives, but especially while waiting until it is finally over, 11:00 pm, for three little ones to watch the movie they came to see????)  Okay, I'm back.  Man this thing really is therapeudic!  Okay, where was I, oh yeah, the reason for the title.  I had kind of a cool moment while stopped at a red light.  I looked in the rearview mirror like I do several times to make sure nobody is pinching, pulling, hitting, or spitting (yes, sometimes Emily rides in the back) and while staring at my three children it hit me as funny that while looking through a rear-view mirror, I was actually seeing the future of our family.  I am excited to see how that future unfolds and am anxious to begin documenting that adventure for us to read as time goes on.

I think the best approach to catch up on where we are is to look back at what got us here (see, the title works in so many ways!).  My plan is to recap how we got to our current state of life first and then take it from there for as long as I can continue to stay motivated.  If I continue to think of the view from that rear-view mirror, then the motivation should come rather easily.