Encourage Me: Wildflower

Guess who?

On July 29, 1996, I became a member of a brotherhood that has been going strong for thousands of years. I’m referring to becoming the father of a daughter. If you are blessed enough as a man to get this opportunity, the full responsibility of your duties weighs heavy on you as soon as that squirming bundle of human life is placed in your arms.

Through the years your child will portray both the good and bad qualities of both you and your wife. (Ezekiel 16:44) As a father, you pray your daughter has grabbed onto the moral values (and beliefs) you’ve lived and spoken to her in the midst of both the good and bad of life, and that she will one day find her place in this world (whatever that might be).

Proverbs 1:8 (MSG) is the plea of all fathers when they have advice for their daughters (whether it’s wanted or not). “Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your mother’s knee.”

I want my daughter, Allena, to always know that when I am unavailable (no matter the reason) that her perfect Heavenly Father is available any time (24/7) with the right advice. (2 Corinthians 6:18) Currently, my daughter will soon be twenty, and at the end of August 2016 experiencing dormitory existence for the first time (at a nearby Christian university).

Before all of this, during the time period she started dating, I wish I had known “The Rules for Dating my Daughter” that I saw on a t-shirt on my Facebook page recently.

There are many interpretations of the “The Rules for Dating my Daughter”. Here they are this version in their entirety (and bluntness) for those fathers that can still use this (now or in the future).

1. Have a job.

2. Be home thirty minutes early.

3. I am everywhere.

4. She’s my little princess, not your “score.”

5. Understand I don’t like you.

6. I do better research than the FBI*.

7. Know you ABC’s: Abstinence, Boundaries, Curfew.

8. If you pull into my driveway and honk, you’d better be delivering a pizza.

It’s important for fathers to know what Psalm 144:12 (MSG) declares, “Make our sons in their prime like sturdy oak trees; our daughters as shapely and bright as fields of wildflowers.” Wildflowers grow wherever their seeds are scattered. I believe every father’s wish for his daughter (regardless of age) is that they can thrive wherever life places them (with true beauty and grace).

If you are the father of a daughter, remember, (and don’t ever forget) that your role is crucial (and not optional) in the development of your female offspring.