All I Want for Christmas...

I want to be a perfect husband, a better companion, a truer friend, and more loyal soulmate to my wife, a true gift to me from Heaven itself.

I want faith like my father, and a steady heart and mind such as he has always shown us.

I want patience like my mother, with the natural love and nurture that comes with such a natural-born caregiver.

I want wisdom and humility like my oldest sister, Julina.

I want creativity and to see the world in brilliant color and variety like my sister Emily.

I want to be the one to whom fatherhood seems to come so naturally, like my brother (in-law) Joe.

There are so many attributes which Joe has that I have heard about or seen with my own two eyes; Joe, I want so bad to be the kind of dad and husband that comes so naturally to you.

I want the sweet disposition and natural tenderness of my sister, Elise.

I want the bright humor and lasting ability to find the best in everyone and everything, like my sister Beckie.

I want the desire to express myself, freely and without restraint, like my sister, Sarah.

I want the buckets of talent flowing out of my ears and toes and fingers, like my sister Kirsti.

I want the endless attention that my nephew, Noah, gets all the time now.

I want to love my wife as much as she loves me, so selflessly and completely and wholly.

I want to not fear what I can't see or understand.

I want to be able to say what I want to to say in exactly the way I want to say it, when I want to say it.

I want to know that I'm where I am supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

That's a tall order. Santa would have his work cut out for him.

I may never get everything on my wish list.

But I am thankful, every day, for the opportunity to try.