Four years ago, my daddy passed away. It feels like yesterday and forever at the same time. I distinctly remember getting a phone call repeatedly - from a number that I didn't recognize - and upon answering, being asked to confirm my identity and then being told apologetically, that my father was deceased. I was at work. It was a Friday afternoon.

I'm closing in on 9 years as a parent and 3 years as a parent of two, and if there's one thing I know for sure it's that parenting is the ultimate humility builder. I have done many things in my life, and arguably, have done them reasonably well. I think that my colleagues would agree that I'm a competent professional and that those who know me through my civic involvement would say that I have a measure of competence and ability.

Last week, I shared that I'm on a journey to read more as a way of reconnecting to something that I love and used to do a lot of. I shared this on Instagram and asked my followers a few questions - and got some great insight about how much people are reading and tips for reading more. When I asked people to share tips on reading more, I got A LOT of responses, but here's a quick summary:

I am a LOVER of books, and would previously have considered myself to have been an avid reader. Over time, reading books shifted to reading blogs and newspaper articles; and while I would still read some each day, it wasn't the same experience of my childhood and adolescent years of being lost in a book. I'll add that I think the process of reading for graduate school and my dissertation took away some of the joy of reading, as I needed to keep up the pace necessary to finish.

And just like that, we're at the beginning of a new year. When I think about my kids, I frequently think, "The days are long, but the years are short." At each point, I marvel at how fast they are growing, meeting and exceeding milestones, and becoming the little people God has created them to be - AND also dragging to bedtime for a semblance of quiet before we rally up for another day.

Alt: a bunch of colorful fireworks are exploding in the night sky .