Can I babysit?

Fun fact: Cheryl and I are expecting a baby Hinnen in late September.  We are, as you can imagine, ecstatic.  In the past I've heard people ponder aloud whether this world is a safe or scary place to raise a child.

I can unequivocally say it is both but I've got some of the greatest people to introduce our kiddo to.  For example:

So when you are expecting everyone asks you the same questions... "When are y'all expecting?" "Do you know if it is a boy or a girl?"  "Are y'all excited?"  "Can I babysit?"

Well... not everyone asks if they can babysit.  But a lot have.

Hence my first unfair division of the world: is this scary?  Or safe?  To answer that is more about my own heart and how I see the world than identifying who is safe and who isn't.  My parents raised me in a way that encouraged freedom but responsibility.  Heck, I rode a Greyhound to Wisconsin when I was fifteen.  Uh, well, moving on...

I've given up the internet this Lent because it feels like so many people feel this world is a scary place where you are simply moving from one tragedy/scandal/offense/hurt to the next.  What a sad way to go about life.  That doesn't sound like life to me at all.  It sounds like hell.

I wasn't raised that way.  I was raised going from one joy to the next.  And while I may never be able to control every situation/person my child will interact with I hope we can teach all our kiddos that love and life are bigger than hate and death.

Yeah.  Been thinking a lot lately about how I was raised.

So sure, you can babysit.  That wasn't so hard, was it?