Recently I was visiting with a very good friend and she was telling me about some retired NFL player who came to her church to speak. She said he was speaking on the role that a father plays in his children's lives. For a son, a father teaches what is expected out of a husband and father. For a daughter he teaches what she "deserves"; how she should expect to be treated from her future spouse. She said that the speaker said that every girl is born with a question in her mind:
Do you see me? Am I beautiful? Do I deserve to be loved?
When I first heard that I thought - oh that's silly. Not every girl is that insecure. But the more I think about it - I think he may be right. Deep down girls - haven't we always asked ourselves that? Maybe some of us were lucky enough (myself included) to be raised in a family (and with a father) who filled those "voids" for us - who answered those questions...but some of us weren't so lucky.
I am blessed to have had a father who made sure I understood the answers to those questions until I was old enough to have a husband. I am further blessed to have a husband who reminds me daily of the answers and already (unconsciously) is answering them for our almost 1 year old daughter. Thank God for good dads.
3 comments:
I have some great reading suggestions for you on this topic!!!
Have you read "Captivating"? Its exactly on this topic! I didn't like it as much as "Do you Think I'm Beautiful?" by Angela Thomas. I did a Bible study on tihs, and it made so much sense to me in terms of how I viewed dating, love, myself...
I just watched something on TLC about Purity Balls which deals with this subject (in a way that I disagree with). I completely agree that dads influence their daughters in more ways than one might think. The part that I disagreed with was that girls shouldn't date boys until their father decides they are ready in order to protect girls from heartbreak, and "giving pieces of their heart away." (I won't go into any more detail...because this is a subject I could go on about for much longer). But I do agree that when daughters see their fathers as a positive role model and when fathers love and respect their daughters, it allows the daughters to have healthy relationships in the future. Hooray for wonderful dads!!! I'm certainly thankful for mine every day!
That's funny Martha - I just saw that special on TLC the other night as well and wanted to watch, but couldn't stay awake that long! LOL yes, I'm old.
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