Abigail continues to grow despite her dad wishing she would stay a cute little baby forever. While I fear all the things dads of little girls fear, I have a great amount of hope.
My hope begins with Jesus and extends to those He has chosen to place around us. I have said it many times before, I am part of a great church community. This community has some great men in it my daughter can look up to. I know many of us think it is important for my baby girl to look up to great women, but I think it is equally important for her to grow up and see great men. The men in my church are rapidly growing toward holiness. I pray she will be able to look at the fathers of her friends and see men who strive after holiness and respect them. When she is ready to choose a husband, I pray she longs after a godly one. I want her to look at her daddy and his friends as Christ-like examples of what it means to be a man.
In turn, I want those daddy’s of little boys to to raise their sons with a godly perspective of women. I believe it is entirely possible for the men at our church to raise boys who do not look at my daughter as an object of lust or worship, but as a fellow image bearer they long to respect and love.
To my fellow men at the Oaks, please continue to grow in godliness and sanctification. Please raise your little boys to be respectful of my daughter and all the other little girls in our church. Most of all, thanks for the outstanding job you have done so far.
-Don-