Three years ago, my life changed forever. Sunny was 33 weeks pregnant with our twins, and we had a pretty good idea that we’d be meeting our son and daughter soon. But when Dr. Bailey walked in and said in his slow Jamaican accent, “I think it’s time to take these babies,” I knew my life would never be the same.

That first year was pretty much a blur. Abby Kate spent the first 9 days of her life in the NICU; Joshua was there for 31 days. Leaving the hospital without either of my babies was absolutely the worst moment of my life. But we were all together again soon enough and the frenetic reality of life with twins descended upon us quickly. There were a lot of sleepless nights (especially during that two week period when they were both colicy) but in spite of all the hard work, there was a lot of joy, too. Honestly, our friends who’d already had kids had painted such a bleak picture for us that we were pleasantly surprised at how much fun we had that first year.

I’m happy to say that our joy has only grown greater with each passing year. We’ve passed the stage of “firsts” — first words, first steps, first trip to the ER — and we’ve now settled in as parents of these two little people who have personalities and senses of humor and fears and wild streaks and likes and dislikes…and it’s awesome. In many ways, our children are like little clones of the two of us. It makes me laugh how Abby Kate shares so many of her mother’s mannerisms and idiosyncrasies; every day it’s like I’m looking at Sunny only 25 years younger. And Joshua…Lord, help him. The boy’s just like me. But there’s also great joy in discovering how our children aren’t like us at all. Those differences serve to remind us that our children have their own unique identities no matter how much they’re like their parents.

Sunny has posted a pictorial look back over the last year over on her blog. It amazes me how quickly time has passed these past twelve months. It seems like when I was young, time couldn’t pass quickly enough. Now that I have children of my own, I want time to slow down so I can really soak up every moment. But I know that’s not realistic, and I also know that’s not what I really want. If I’m being really honest with myself, I want my children to grow up. I want them to leave us someday and go off and live their own lives. I really want that for them. But thankfully, I should have about 15 more years before that time comes. That sounds reasonable to me.

Abby Kate, “father’s pure joy”, if you ever happen to read this, I want you to know you fill my heart with so much joy. You bring tears of joy to my life at least once a week. Your tenderness and your playfulness unlock chambers of my heart that I never knew were there. I love you so dearly, little girl.

Joshua, my son, should you ever read this, you need to know how proud I am of you. Proud that you’re my son, proud of who you are, proud of who you’re becoming. The bar has been set high for you. Your forebears were great men. But may you ever be growing into the name you have been given. I love you so much, little boy.

Thank you, Lord, for such a grace as this.