The odds of any of this happening is literally incomprehensible. Some scientists have estimated that the chances of any one person being born are somewhere in the realm of one in four hundred trillion.

But what are the odds that you would meet your spouse or co-parent? That you would both have the experiences you’ve had, that you would conceive when you did? And that your children would be born, would have this hair color instead of that one, in this country instead of that one, be this gender or that one, be tall instead of short, be blessed with athletic ability instead of two left feet.

It is more than a miracle…it’s miraculous even on the spectrum of unlikely miracles. Yet here you are. And because you’re here, here they are. You are blessed beyond blessings…and still, somehow, in what is a whole different kind of miracle, you’ve managed to take so much of this blessing for granted!

That must stop now. Every day, we must take the time to ponder the improbability of it all, the wonderfulness of it all. Of love. Of family. Of kids.

As we watch them fall in love with baseball or ballet, learn how to work a computer, make new friends, pick a major or a profession, survive another day or year…all this is having hit the lottery of lotteries. And it is our job not to throw away the winning ticket.

We are beyond lucky. Having kids is not guaranteed, as many heartbreaking stories demonstrate. Do not waste it. Do not dismiss it as average or ordinary. Because it isn’t. It’s the most extraordinary thing that has ever happened.

Live accordingly.