Dads ROCK!

Okay...so I could break into song with some ole rendition of a Randy Travis or Shania Twain song...and I could go on and on about their doppelgangers...

 

I've done it before...

 

I could go on and on about her flawless skin and the fact that everytime I take their family pictures I have to compose myself and try to NOT be jealous at the beauty that just IS...

 

I could write paragraphs about the cuteness of these children...how their daughter has a special place in my heart as she is the oldest sibling in a family with just brothers...how she has a spark all her own and how I have watched and seen in her that desire to just blossom and shine...

 

OH, you could be reading this post for hours, let's just face it...

 

therefore, I want to just tell you about one thing...

 

it was a small, passing moment during our time together...that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, but...

 

I didn't let it...

 

This Dad made a comment...

 

a beautiful, thoughtful, heartfelt, protective, courageous, meaningful comment...

 

it just centered around that sweet girl that I mentioned a few sentences above...

 

I stopped what I was doing and I called him out on it...

 

I'll be blunt and honest here...there aren't many dads in our current culture that have this kind of courage...the courage that it takes to go against the stream...go against what our society says is "norm"...

 

He was watching me snap pictures of his kiddos, particularly his daughter...he was recognizing how grown up she has become in just this past year...I think her striking beauty caught him off guard and it welled up.....and that integrity, that protective nature...that DAD heart caused him to just make a comment that was against status quo...and it came from a moment where he could imagine his daughter in the future and how he wanted to guard her heart and cherish WHO she is...

 

The conversation that followed...the exact words aren't what really matters here...

 

What impressed me was his involvement in her life...his desire to demonstrate to her that her worth is about WHO she is and not WHAT she wears or HOW she looks...(he already knows that she's beautiful)

 

It was just evidence to me of a family that cherishes the heart of a person...

 

It is a joy to know them...

 

And they must have gotten it somewhere...and on this day I didn't have to go far to find out...because I had the opportunity to meet the extended family on both sides...

 

what an honor and privilege to be in the presence of such genuine people! 

 

Thank you all, for allowing me time with you!