{"id":2906,"date":"2015-04-29T06:30:26","date_gmt":"2015-04-29T11:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/?p=2906"},"modified":"2015-04-29T06:30:26","modified_gmt":"2015-04-29T11:30:26","slug":"4-things-ive-learned-by-having-four-kids-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/4-things-ive-learned-by-having-four-kids-2\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Things I've Learned By Having Four Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Changing a diaper faster than a NASCAR pit crew. Good life skill to learn. Distinguishing between a real cry and fake cry within the first two seconds. Another good life skill I\u2019ve learned compliments of my four kids. On a more serious note, here are four impactful lessons I\u2019ve learned by having four kids:<\/p>\n

\"4.29.15\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Life isn\u2019t about you.\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s perhaps the first and biggest lesson any parent has to learn. To be a great parent, you can\u2019t be the center of your universe. This lesson extrapolates as you pile on the kids. I literally have hobbies that I can associate dropping when I had more kids: Golf (Zeke), Tennis (Shep), Xbox\/Wii (Linc). To gain something, I had to give up something. But that\u2019s okay, because life isn\u2019t about me.<\/p>\n

2. Sleep is overrated.<\/strong>\u00a0I got an early start on this blog today because my 2-year-old decided to walk into our bedroom at 5 am, turn on the lights, and ask for chocolate milk. Most of the time I don\u2019t even have to set an alarm any more. The kids get me up. Kids one and two were the dark days when my body hadn\u2019t quite adjusted to the lack of sleep that comes with parenting young kids. Now I\u2019m a little more used to it. I used to be unable to function with less than 8 hours. Now if I get 5 or 6, I\u2019m good.<\/p>\n

3. Money does not equal happiness.<\/strong>\u00a0Right alongside the hobbies I\u2019ve given up I could stack up toys and other nice things that I would have liked to get for myself over the years but couldn\u2019t because my\u00a0income goes to taking care of the kids. There\u2019s a lot of things Robin and I used to splurge on that we don\u2019t get to anymore. Four kids makes our budget especially tight. But we\u2019re happy. We don\u2019t have all we\u2019d like, but we have more than we need. Our happiness shifted from what money could buy to our kids a long time ago. Money does not equal happiness.<\/p>\n

4. It\u2019s more blessed to give than to receive.\u00a0<\/strong>These words of Jesus always hang out in the background of my mind. I\u2019ve found it to be an incredibly powerful and life-giving truth. As a parent, especially a parent of four young kids, my life is about giving. My time is not my own. My evenings belong to my kids. Sometimes my sleep belongs to my kids. I give and give and give. And yet I can honestly say that I\u2019m more blessed now than I\u2019ve ever been. My family\u00a0gives me a blessing that far surpasses anything I could have ever selfishly obtained for myself.<\/p>\n

QUESTION: What lessons have you learned by having and raising kids?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Changing a diaper faster than a NASCAR pit crew. Good life skill to learn. Distinguishing between a real cry and fake cry within the first two seconds. Another good life skill I\u2019ve learned compliments of my four kids. On a more serious note, here are four impactful lessons I\u2019ve learned by having four kids: 1. 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