Dear Daughter (Father's Day 2021)

Dear Daughter, 

First, know that I love you beyond my words. I pray this is obvious by my actions, our late-night talks, and each early morning breakfast together. I pray you’re reminded of this each time I hold you tight and carry you to your bed at night. I pray each silly song we sing, and each note we play on our out-of-tune piano brings us closer together. 

I hope you hear my prayers and know I’m praying for you, your mother, our family, our church, our community, our country, and our world. Our prayers, including yours, are powerful. I hope I can be a teacher to show you the word of God, and explain how it changed my life, so you know how it can affect your life and the lives of those you influence. 

I hope I can shield you from some of life’s hurts, but when I can’t, I pray to always have the strength to hold you close and hold you tight when the pain becomes more than you can bear alone. 

I know you're strong. I know you're independent and I know you have your own path to forge in this life. I pray the road you take is full of both ups and downs, strength and weakness because without the lows you won’t fully appreciate the highs. I pray each time you fall, you rise up, rise above, and keep moving forward. You’re an amazing young lady. 

Second, I pray you know I’m not perfect. I fall, and I fail. I hope you see beyond each tired outburst, each time I’ve said “no,” without reason, and each time I’ve not been the dad I could have been. It’s not you, it’s me, and know that I’m trying each day to be a better dad than I was the day before. 

With much love, 

Dad