Father of the Bride

I have been married for twenty-six years and a father for twenty-two.  In just a few weeks I will walk my baby girl down the aisle and give her away to the man of her dreams.  I’ve known this day was coming for quite some time now, but as the time draws closer, I find myself thinking about the past.

I’m happy with the way I’ve fathered my children, I really am.  I mean of course if I had it to do over, I’d change some things.  I’d laugh more, act silly for no reason and look for more opportunities to just sit with my kids and be with them.

It’s at this point in my life as I wonder about the past; I begin to have doubts though.  Doubts of whether or not I’ve really given April all the things she is going to need to be a success in her marriage.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m very proud of the woman she has become, and I think she is doing great.  It’s just that she is fixing to marry a man, leave my house and start her own family.  Will she be able to make it without me there to help? 

This is the doubt I wrestle with.  Not that she’ll be able to do it, I believe in her abilities.  I just hope I’ve done all I can to pour into her life so she will have what she needs to draw on when the time comes.  I'm sure most every dad has wondered this before giving his daughter away.

We were a home school family, and part of an amazing co-op in the later years.  I always felt we were the underachieving homeschool family though.  It seemed every kid in our co-op was building robots and working on their doctorate while we were striving for our kids to graduate. (Okay so that might be a bit of an exaggeration).  What I am confident in however, is my kids know how to find the answers to the questions they have in life.

I have also made it a conscious effort while my kids were growing to stress the importance of finding out what God has for them, then chasing after it.  And this is one of the things I'm most excited about for my baby girl.  She is doing what the Lord has for her to do.  And while I'm excited about this, it is a tad bit scary too.  Scary because she will not have me there to help her if she needs it.  I have to let her go and trust God will guide her in everything she does.  Thankfully, He is faithful and loves her even more than I do. 

Since purchasing the dress for her big day, it has being hanging in my office just to the right of my desk.  It is a constant reminder to me how the day is ever drawing near.  In just a few weeks I'll be sitting here writing and it will no longer be there, and she'll be off to start her new adventure in life with her husband.  It'll be exciting for her, and a little sad for me I'm sure.  My baby all grown up and out changing the world for God with the new man in her life.

April may not be my little baby girl swinging in my arms any more, but regardless of how old she becomes she will always be my baby girl.  And as we walk arm in arm down the aisle on her wedding day, I won't be able to keep from thinking how I was there for the first steps she took as a baby, and now I am there as she takes her first steps as a woman.  Yeah, I'll probably bawl like a little baby.
Strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King!!