Father of the Bride

I walked my daughter down the aisle last weekend. Although I’ve walked seven marathons in recent years, those walks didn’t seem nearly as daunting as this one.

DancingI informed the pastor that my wife, Mimi, and I are the ones who give this woman to this man. Then she made a promise to her bridegroom, she changed her name to his, and off they drove together at the end of an amazing and joyous day.

Here are a few remembrances, reflections, and lessons learned from a father of the bride with an overflowing heart:

  1. The many little things – like “House at Pooh Corner” at bedtime and walking the neighborhood loop with my two-year-old daughter in our backpack each evening – are sweeter memories than the many bigger things.
    backpack
  2. Intentional spiritual nurturing during her infancy, childhood, and tween years provided a solid foundation and deep roots for her teen years and early adult years.
  3. Monthly daddy dates and lots of fun together during her childhood years helped forge a daddy-daughter bond that survived the many eye rolls, one-word answers, and cold shoulders of the teen years.
  4. No amount of success at work or in any other area of life could have made up for a lack of success at home.
  5. However, some failures and flaws are inevitable (and I’ve had many), but God has redeemed and worked through my many weaknesses.
  6. Weekly family devotions were filled with lessons and laughter, but nurturing her in the Lord also needed to be built into the everydayness of our lives together.
  7. Allowing my daughter to teach me throughout the years not only made her more open to all that I wanted to teach her, but it also made me a much wiser man.
  8. Praying for her since her conception and praying and fasting for her each week was the greatest investment of my time and heart I could ever make.
  9. When she eventually needed to break away from her daddy, letting go and trusting God was both amazingly difficult and absolutely the best thing I could have done; and she came back in a wonderful way.
  10. It’s a wondrous thing when your daughter soars beyond your greatest hopes and dreams!

Giving my daughter all of my heart and energy and time and passion during the past 23 years made our one-minute walk down the aisle together a cause for joy and celebration, for reflection on God’s goodness, and for an overflowing heart in a grateful father of the bride!

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