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A friend for life…

Posted on: Wednesday, January 25th, 2006
Comments: 1

Children’s books for girls: A Girl Named Pants

My mother raised us to believe in God.  She wasn’t a bible thumper or holy roller, but she introduced us to someone who would love us unconditionally no matter what the rest of the world thought of us.  Someone who had a bigger plan for us than what we saw before our eyes.  Someone who would always be watching over us no matter how hard life became.  A few years ago I asked her why she emphasized God in our lives so much.  She said that she never wanted us to feel alone.  And we never did. 

Having God in my life gave me confidence, and still does.  It has gotten me through every pothole and detour in the road.  It has given me eternal vision which always helped me to lead rather than follow.  It always served as a shield against many of the stupid things I would have otherwise done (don’t get me wrong, I did A LOT of stupid things as a kid, but it could have been a lot worse).  But, above all, God has always been always a friend to me.

That’s what I want for my daughters.  This is a hard world for kids.  Peer pressure isn’t called peer influence for a reason…it’s an enormous PRESSURE everyday, often to do the wrong thing.  To face peer pressure and life in general, I want my daughters to have a secret friend.  I want them to have someone in their lives that will never die and will always love them for who they are.  I want someone to provide positive pressure, to influence them in the right direction.  For now, that someone is me.  But, life is a funny thing.  We never know when our last day will arrive.  And we never know when, for some other reason, our daughters will be out of our lives.  So, I have raised my daughters to not only believe in God, but to know that God is part of their everyday lives. That God is their father and mother, friend, teacher, coach, sculptor, and guide along the path.  That God is watching every minute of every day, and will never, ever give up on them.  They actually include God in family pictures they draw in school.  I couldn’t be happier.  One day while making snowmen (snow people actually) in our backyard, I made one for everyone in our family.  When we finished, I began walking toward the house.  My daughters kept going.  “Come on, dad.  Let’s make God the biggest.” 

One Response to “A friend for life…”

  1. Ann Says:

    Thank you for this note, I struggle with how to introduce God more into my daughters life each day. This week my 6 year old received her first pair of glasses, while she is thrilled to see her biggest worry is that kids will pick on her. This was a good reminder to tell her God is always with her and he made her perfect as she and that God is there to protect her when Mom and Dad are not.
    Thanks!
    Ann

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