Left: My dad praying with me before my wedding. Right: Preacherman consoling our little one.
One of the (many) things that I love about Preacherman is that he is an EXCELLENT father. He truly finds joy and happiness in interacting and engaging with our daughter. While he (admittedly) spoils her, he is also a wonderful leader for her and our family. His demonstration of love is consistent and firm. He strives to teach her in the ways of the Lord. When you see them together, it is clear that they are two peas in a pod.
For the last few weeks, our bedtime stories have been from a children’s pajama bible. Samiyah gets to choose four stories (because she’s 4 years old), and we’ll read them together. Her choices over the past few weeks have been: God Made the World, Adam and Eve, Noah, and Naomi and Ruth. We’ve read them so much that she has nearly memorized them. After we read them, we try to include a one sentence synopsis or takeaway that she’ll be able to remember.
Last night, after reading about Adam and Eve, she began to ask questions (deep, theological, 4 year old questions). As we talked about the serpent and how God felt after Adam and Eve disobeyed, she came to the conclusion that God wasn’t real because she couldn’t see Him in the pictures of her pajama bible. (Insert parenting panic here).
After overcoming my parenting panic, I said, “Well, you don’t see Daddy all the time. Does that mean that he is not real?” She responded, “Yes, Daddy is real!” I then explained, “Well, just because we aren’t able to see God, that doesn’t mean that He isn’t real. He’s always there for us in the same way that Daddy is always there for you. Daddy is your earthly father, and God is your heavenly father.” At that moment, she took off running to the other room to give Preacherman one of many good night hugs and kisses. I breathed a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. Praise the Lord, I hadn’t ruined my little one’s faith!
Because Preacherman is such a great father, it was easy for her to make the connection between him being there and being real, and God being real. When fathers are great (and this doesn’t mean without fault or flawless) and truly desire to lead their families in the way of the Lord, it becomes so much easier for their children to trust God. It’s so easy for me to trust that God is on time, because my dad is never late. I can believe in God’s consistency because I see that in my dad and in my husband. I am able to accept that God is faithful and keeps His promises because I have good earthly examples in my husband and my dad.
My husband and my dad have shown me that while good parenting is about the day to day activities, it’s also about love and discipleship and leaving a legacy of faith behind that can support and encourage the generations to come. For that, I am truly grateful.
Be encouraged! Peace and blessings!
life beyond the well... 
June 11, 2013 at 1:13 pm
This post made a breath catch in my throat and a tear almost come to my eye. What a beautiful relationship to have with both your father, and the relationship your daughter has with her father. My father passed away when I was 11 years old from cancer (even before then though he was not always present). It wasn’t until the last year or so that I realized that the relationship I had with my father reflected in the relationship that I had with God. But thankfully through much prayer, study, and fellowship I am now learning how to have a healthy relationship with Him. The part that made me, I don’t want to say “sad” but I can’t find a better synonym at the moment is wondering if my daughter will have to deal with this growing up, just like I did. I don’t want her to have “daddy issues” with her earthly father nor her heavenly one. But as Father’s day approaches I’m hit with the reality of her current situation. Her father is at times voluntarily absentee. She is almost 2, and while the impact isn’t felt now…if his patterns continue, one day she’ll feel it. My apologies for rambling. I’m new to your blog but I absolutely love it so much already.
June 12, 2013 at 9:16 am
This post is so sweet! Ernest sounds like a really amazing man! I was looking for your email, but couldn’t find it. I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Liebster award! You can see it here: http://beautifulxchange.blogspot.com/2013/06/that-time-i-got-nominated-for-liebster.html ! Thanks for writing some awesome stuff!