Daughter and Father
We have three daughters: 13, 11 & 3. Everyone says “Just wait!” in regards to the Estrogen Armageddon that we are supposed to experience during their adolescence. “Oh, you have all girls?” they say, “Boys are easier…” Great, thanks! So far with our girls we have had relatively no problems. Our daughters are awesome! We are so proud at watching all three of them develop into beautiful and wonderful women. They are not perfect by any means, but they’ve made parenting pretty easy up to this point. I am constantly amazed at the things they say and do. They balance family, friends, school, church and activities better than I could ever handle myself. They are kind, compassionate and they have awesome hearts.
Child number three, our youngest has had some unique differences from her sisters. I am sure that God wants me to feel my age of 44 because she has more energy than my wife and my two other daughters combined. She is so strong willed that you can’t even convince her to do something that was her idea to begin with. I love her to death. She is hilarious and such a great source of entertainment (one of the main reasons to have children). But I do not understand why she will do the same things over and over again, especially the things that get her into trouble. Dad Disclaimer: (I tend to be hyper aware of behavior issues with my kids and so I focus on fixing “issues” more than I should.)
Last year, her most dangerous hobby was the “Escape”. At any store, if she could see the front door, she would run like Forrest Gump. Sometimes she would make it through the door before we could catch up to her. If the garage was open, she would run out and down the sidewalk up to three houses down before we could grab her. If you would turn around for a second, she’d be gone. With her speed and ability to escape and evade, I am not sure if she will grow up to be an Olympic runner or a Navy Seal!
I read that Michael Phelps has ADD and that the reason he excels at swimming is because of the lines at the bottom of the pool. They have always told him where to go. During worship at church on a Sunday morning, my daughter was dancing around on the hard gym floor. When I say “dancing” I mean spinning around like a tornado! I was sure that she would slip and hurt herself and so I applied the “pool lines” principle. I held out both my hands and grabbed hers into mine and danced with her. I guided her, directed her and kept her safe from certain disaster. I loved this moment we had together and it was awesome to know she put her trust in me.
This made me think of my relationship with God. When I am off on my own, I tend to do things that are dangerous and self-destructive. But when I reach up to my Heavenly Father, grasp both His hands and trust in Him, I can rest in His protection. I know that this does not keep me out of the way of life’s difficulties, because life is not supposed to be easy. But I know that when I am totally surrendered and dependent on Him, I am choosing His will for my life over my own.
How do your relationships help you feel connected to God?
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