Of all the titles I have the ones that mean the most to me cost the least, and I really didn’t do anything to deserve them.

On the day my son was born I remember feeling embarrassed whenever someone called me “dad.” I didn’t feel like I deserved the title; I hadn’t changed a single poopy diaper, I hadn’t lost any sleep, and I hadn’t made any financial sacrifices. But I was still a dad.

I had a similar experience when I was Baptized, Confirmed, and received First Communion at the Easter Vigil years ago. I remember being lightheaded because I was overwhelmed by the feeling of God’s love and humbled by being forgiven when I knew I had done nothing for God . . . when I knew I had done so much against God. But I was still a child of God.

In contrast, the day I received my Bachelor’s degree, I remember feeling underwhelmed. As I stood in line waiting for my name to be called, I felt guilty because I wasn’t more excited, and I wondered if the other graduates were feeling the same way. I spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours working for that title, but I almost never think about it, I have no idea where my diploma is, and that title is no where near as important as “dad.”

As I sat at the Easter mass with my beautiful family, I kept thanking God for giving me all these people. And with each relationship comes a title that God blessed me with before I did anything to deserve them. I am a child of God, a husband, a dad, a son, a brother, and a youth minister.

The trip went well. After my wife dropped my son and me off at the airport we found out the flight was delayed, so he ran around the airport for a couple hours and then passed out on the plane. Perfect!

The house we stayed at wasn’t baby-proofed at all, so I haven’t sat down for more than 10 minutes straight all weekend. But one amazing thing happened because of that; my son and I somehow bonded even more than we already were. I always try to give him a couple hours each day, and I thought we had a great relationship, but spending every minute with him (minus the time I had best-man duties during the wedding) has taken us to a whole new level. He smiles a little bigger at me, and he likes to hold my hand a little more. He even seems calmer now. . .

My wife stays at home, so the bond she has with our kids must feel amazing. I believe staying home with our kids is hard work, but I can’t help being a little jealous of the relationship they have. I’m glad the three of them get to share that much love.

My family is amazing.

Thanks for your prayers.

Tomorrow morning we’re flying to Texas for a wedding. I’m a little nervous about how our son is going to handle two hours in a seat when he is used to running around all day. I searched the web for advice, and most sites said pretty much the same thing: “Distract the kids with everything you’ve got.”

We called up one of our friends to see if they would let us use their portable DVD player and we found out that they had just flown the same airline with their kids and had all kinds of great stories to tell us. Their daughter had just seen the new Superman movie and by some strange coincidence (is there ever a normal coincidence?) a tall, dark-haired man wearing a glasses and a superman t-shirt was in the airport. Their daughter was stunned and told everybody on the plane that Superman was flying outside holding up their plane. The flight attendants and the other passengers were all very nice, and played along.

I think the best advice we got was “relax, focus on taking care of your kids, and the other fliers will take care of themselves.” So we’re packing light - a LeapFrog and a DVD player with a couple of VeggieTales. And I’m looking forward to the airplane-shaped cookies that they give parents . . . I mean kids.

Pray for my family this weekend.