Faithful Father

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Fatherhood...

It can be a daunting task. But what does it really look like?

For me, it looked like a man who put the Lord first, family second and everything else after.

It looked {and still looks} like love, patience, grace, teaching, fun, silly and beautiful.

My father is a man of God... and it's not just because he's a pastor. He's a man of God because he finds his identity in one place... the Lord. He's God's man, and he's not afraid to rest in that and proclaim it to others! 

Thank you, Daddy, for showing me a picture of what a man should be... as a husband, as a father and as a friend. I love you so very much and am thankful to God for you!

Now, my father isn't perfect. No, not by a long shot. He's imperfect, but that's the beauty of it. In his imperfection... when the flaws came out... he knew how to ask for forgiveness and he knew how to accept grace. In so doing, he showed me what the love of Christ is, and how to apply it to my own life.

Because of his example, I grew up seeing what a man of God looked like. Because of his example, I knew what to look for in a husband. That's how the Lord led me to Ren, my sweet architect man.

Ren is a man of passion, love, patience, compassion, joy and creativity, so I knew when I married him that he would, indeed, make a wonderful father. Boy, was I right!

Each day, I am blessed to see Ren smile with Scoot, laugh with Scoot and dance with Scoot. He's never too tired to spend time with her, never too impatient to teach her something new. He's faithful...

Each day, he opens his arms to her with a whole lot of love and grace, whether it's to teach, hold, laugh or scold. He's faithful to be a father to her. He's faithful to show her what it looks like to be a man of God, a husband to her mommy and a friend to others around him. Through his example, she will {hopefully} have a clearer understanding of how it will feel to run into the arms of her faithful Lord and {one day} Savior, Jesus Christ.

I thank you so much, Lord, for bringing these two special men into my life, and the life of my child.

Lord, because of them, I know more of what you look like, how you love me, and what grace means.

To the aforementioned men: I love you both so very much!

Happy Father's Day to all of you Daddies out there!

Thank you for loving your families well!

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