12 Months/ 12 Memories - #12

Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

Sometimes I wonder if Katylynn is going to want to play the drums when she grows up. She has a pretty good beat when she bobs to music. She's just started clapping, and I'm thinking she has a pretty consistent rhythm with that as well. She has a little toy drum that she loves to beat on. Put boxes in front of her, and she'll have fun beating on them. One day at the church, Janelle surrounded her with hot chocolate containers, and she was in heaven!
Will she be a drummer?
Will she enjoy music?
Will she want to play sports?
Will she be a decent friend to many or a loyal friend to a few?
Will she speak up or sit back?
Will she be even tempered or full of fire in her bones?
What subjects will she excel in at school, and which ones will she struggle with?
What age will she stop thinking of me as "cool"?
Will she ever think of me as "cool"?
How will I react the first time I catch her in a lie?
What am I going to do the first time a boy breaks her heart?
Will she put her trust in Christ at a young age?
Will she have to give life on her a try for a while before choosing to follow Christ?
Will she never choose to follow Christ?

It's been a year, I thought I'd have it all figured out by now! So much to come. So many memories to already cherish. As the questions come, here's what Janelle and I are committed to do in the years to come...
Love Katylynn unconditionally in action and word.
Show her and tell her what it means to follow Jesus.
Walk with her as she learns through her triumphs and failures.
Parent her in faith, and not in fear.
And when she's ready, we will buy her a drum set!

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #11

Daddy Day Care
In late August, Janelle went back to work. Two days a week. On Tuesdays, Katylynn gets to spend the day with her Grandma Jeanette and Grandpa Kip. On Thursdays, she spends the day with me. I LOVE THURSDAYS.
Trips to Martins and Target.
Swinging in the back yard.
Meal time.
Watching Baby Einstein and Winnie the Pooh.
Putting together Puzzles.
Dancing to Baby Mozart.

It's weird. I thought watching her on my day off would exhaust me. Quite the opposite. It fuels me. Over the past two months, there has been a deeper connection with her. Don't get me wrong. There's been points where she's refused to eat, been grouchy from a long Wednesday Night, pooped on the floor, and refused to let me change her clothes. The thing is, it has allowed extended one on one time... daddy/daughter. I'm praying that it is serving as an opportunity to lay a foundation that allows Katylynn to know that she has an earthly father who loves her deeply, and that love is minute in comparison to the love her Heavenly Father has for her.

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #10

Bedtime:

It really started the week we spent out at the Lake in July. At bedtime, I would take Katylynn back and rock her until she was nearly asleep. The greatest moment is that time when she sinks her head into my chest and lets out a sigh as if to say, "I'm completely comfortable now." In that time, I take a moment to pray health, protection, and purity over her. I also take time to thank God for the gift He's given me and to pray a blessing for a 17 year old gal who chose life.

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #9

It messed me up a little

Where Mothers Day was a happy day, Fathers Day was tough. That Sunday, Janelle and I were in Mexico with our IMPACT team (Senior High Short Term Missions). I thought I would be fine. After all, Fathers Day is really just another Sunday. On June 15, Satan did his best to kick the crud out of me for not being around my daughter.
In the end, it proved to be a great day/week of learning and a reminder that God has called me to be a husband, a father, and a youth minister, the the three can coexist. The full story is recounted here.

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #8

Mother's Day:

For 7 years, Janelle an I celebrated our moms. This year was exciting to celebrate Janelle as a mom. The 5 previous Mother's Days had been a bit bittersweet for her. Each year seemed to serve as a glaring reminder of what she did not have. Would she ever know what it ? It was a big day.
Added to the day was the moment that we publicly dedicated Katylynn over to God at NMC. She is our little girl, but she ultimately belongs to God.

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #7

Thursday, April 10:

We went straight from our time at my parents cabin to the Allen County courthouse in Fort Wayne. There is a 6 month period between the adoption papers being signed 24 hours after birth and it becoming a truly official adoption. The court date is somewhat a formality, yet it was on this date we officially became the full legal responsibility as parents, and Katylynn was recognized on her birth certificate as a Prenkert.
Our parents joined us in the courtroom as the final flakes of angst, doubts, and "what if"s were swept away!

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #6

Generation to Generation:

My dad is a reader. It's rare to see my father in public without a book. One of my fondest memories growing up would be the times my dad read to me as a child. In April, we went up to Ludington, Michigan to spend some time at my parents cabin. Mom and dad joined us for the first night. While together, Grandpa took advantage of the opportunity to read to his granddaughter for the first time.
This picture is very special to me.

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #5

Seperation Anxiety:
In January, I spent 10 days in India. Janelle and Katylynn stayed here in Indiana. As I said goodbye to my wife and baby that morning of departure, it was a new world for me when it came to international travel. Since getting married, all my previous international ministry trips had been done with the most important person to me at my side. This time around, I was not only leaving that person behind, I was leaving a second one that was so treasured.
While in India, I processed this new world, and I wrote this in my journal one morning. I actually posted it on this blog upon my return...

God has called me to spend my life on young people, both across the street and around the world.
God has called me to be a faithful, loyal, and loving husband.
God has called me to be a father who shows his daughter a glimpse of the love her Heavenly Father has.

Somehow, I'm convinced that all three of those callings, when submitted to Him, will be able to coexist!

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #4

Newborn Naps
It was the same Wednesday Night that we introduced Katylynn to the youth group. Neal Yoder (one of the many who had been and continue to be an incredible support on our journey) asked me how life was going as a dad. I shared of my excitement, enjoyment and lack of sleep. Neal, father of a daughter and son, got a big smile on his face as he leaned in a little and asked, "Have you taken a nap with her yet?"

I smiled back and said, "Oh yeah." In those first few months, there was nothing quite like taking the little bundle and laying on the couch with her. I can't explain the feeling, but as Neal smile indicated when he asked, I'm sure other dads who have enjoyed this experience can identify with the inexplicable nature of this shared time.

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #3

My Little Simba

Katylynn was 6 days old when she made her first appearance before our youth group (one of the benefits of adopting is that mommy is in much better physical shape and able to get around). So many of the students and leaders had been on the journey with us that Janelle and I felt it was appropriate to bring her on stage and introduce her at our Senior High Wednesday Night Youth gathering.s Janelle and I thought through how to go about it, there was only way Janelle and I could think of...

Janelle and Katylynn came on stage with me. I took Katylynn in my hands and said, "Senior High, I want to introduce you to our little answer to prayer. Meet Katylynn Ivy Prenkert."

As I lifted her up, the tech guys hit play to "Circle of Life" off the Lion King Soundtrack. Dustin Eby made a Rafiki mask and Janelle held it over my face. The moment was complete.

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #2

"Now What?"

Saturday, November 10 at 11:00 p.m., we arrived home from the hospital with our daughter. My mom came by to meet her granddaughter. We got unpacked, and put her in her bassinet for the night. Janelle and I got into bed, exhausted. We were home. It was official. We turned the lights off. 2 minutes later, the little girl lets out a squeal and sets into crying.
At that moment, Janelle and I looked at each other with a similar expression. It was a look that had a sense of confusion and reality. Simply stated, the look said, "Okay, now what?"

12 Months/ 12 Memories - #1

My Joy/ Your Pain

It was 9:30 a.m. November 9 when I held my daughter for the first time. She was tiny, quiet, and absolutely precious. My heart was overflowing. At the same time, Katylynn's birth mother sat in the room experiencing a different set of emotions. I truly believe they were excited for us and for this little girl, but it was the painful reality that they were about to say goodbye.
It was 6:00 p.m. November 10 when Emily walked into the hospital where we were waiting. She placed Katylynn in Janelle's arms and said, "Here's your daughter." They hugged, and cried. As Emily and Candy (Emily's mom) walked out of the room, Iput an arm around my wife and a hand on my daughter. In the silence of the moment, we soaked in the incredible fulfillment of God's promise to us for a child. We were speechless. We were overwhelmed with joy, yet fully realized the painful goodbye that had taken place.
She chose life.
She chose to give this child a home with a mother and a father.
She chose to give us an amazing gift.
For this, I will remain grateful and bless her for that!

Countdown to One Year...

Saturday the little girl hits her first birthday. She has been such a blessing in our lives. One year, and much has changed.
She has changed.
Everyday life has changed.
I have changed. (more on that coming in my response to Rob's post request).
Ministry has changed.
Janelle have changed.
We have changed.

People often ask me if the transition has been tough. It is quite a switch for Janelle and I after going 7 1/2 years with just the two of us, but any negatives in that change are so overshadowed by the joy and fulfillment of what one of our student's has nicknamed "The Chunk of Love" has brought into our life.

Heading into my 32nd birthday, I did a little series called 32 years, 32 memories.
Heading into my baby girl's 1st birthday, we're going to go with 12 Months, 12 Memories.