A Father's Love

Is there anything that a little girl loves more than her daddy?  Not in this house there's not!  Our girls adore their father and I must say that the feeling is mutual.  He loves his girls.  This makes me one happy mama. 

I will admit that there are moments where I'm tempted to be a bit jealous of their affection for him.  Like when we are walking through a parking lot and even though Daddy is already carrying their baby sister, both older girls want to hold his hand, "No, not Mommy, I want to hold DADDY's hand!"
But, I get over it quickly because it means that I get to take pictures and watch them with their Dad.
My thought has always been that he deserves it.  He's the one that gets down on the floor with them to play and makes every moment he's with them special.  Not that I never get down to play with them, I can give just as good a "horsie" ride as the next mom and I've gotten pretty good at building a tower before someone can knock it down, it's just that he does it ALL the time and I have a tendency to get distracted by the things that I "need to get done".  He makes sure that they know how special they are by giving his whole attention to them, while I may say, "Hold on girls, Mommy's on the phone."  or, "Mommy's busy right now.  He laughs at their jokes while I smile and say, "Did you wash your hands after you went to the bathroom?"  You                           get the point.

My husband is a great Dad.  He's a great husband too.  There is a lot that I can learn from him.  I attended a parenting class tonight and was reminded of how our main job in raising kids is to teach them who God is and how much He loves and cares about them.  To instruct them in His ways and to lead them to Him.  That's it, our main job.  Yet, I have a tendency to get sidetracked by so many other things.  Distractions like, "Am I teaching them enough math, should they know all the state capitals, Am I giving them a horrible example because I can never get and keep this house clean, shouldn't I be exercising more so I'm a healthier mom and can care for them better?"  You know, distractions.  Now, these are all important things but sometimes I get my priorities out of line and forget that the most important thing I can teach them doesn't come through lectures or memorization, it comes through example.  My life needs to be rooted so deeply in God that they can't help but learn His love for them because they see it in me.  My husband does a GREAT job at this.  He leads our family as the Lord leads him and for this I am truly grateful.  I can see a huge difference in myself from the insecure girl I was when we got married to now, nine years later, a much more confident woman who is learning daily that the depths the Lord loves her to are unfathomable.  I credit a lot of this to my husband's patience and devotion.  He has shown me love that I can see with my eyes and it has helped me to receive the love that the Lord pours out on me, that may not always be quite as tangible.  I am so thankful that my daughters have this example of Godly love in their dad and that they will grow up knowing that they are cherished by their dad and by their Father.

I will leave you with a few recent pictures of the girls with their Daddy.