I love being a Dad. I really do. Today was one of those days that reminded me of how much I love being a Dad. Our oldest daughter is a 1st grader at the Christian school attached to our Church.
My office and her classroom are about 10 yards apart! Yet there are days that I get so focused on what I am doing in my little world, that I forget that we are on the same campus. Today I was walking from one meeting to the next across our campus when I saw her and her classmates out on the playground for what they call, "first recess." She saw me walking past the playground and ran up to me smiling saying, "Daddy, Daddy!" There is nothing better than being greeted on the playground with excitement by your 1st grade daughter. I gave her a big hug, knelt down next to her and asked her what she was playing.
Then in her sweet, high pitched 1st grade voice told me, "well, this girl is not playing with this girl, so I am talking to the girl whose feeling are hurt, trying to cheer her up. (yes - the drama begins in 1st grade)." I looked at her with compassion and said, "that is so nice of you. I am proud of you for having a heart for your friend whose feelings are hurt. Let's pray right now, for you friends, that they can get along the rest of the day." (In my mind, I was being a great, Godly father in this moment).
What came next, surprised me....My daughter got this panicked look on her face and said, "no, Daddy, no..don't pray here, don't pray..." I looked at her kind of hurt and said, "no, I think we should pray, let's pray right now (and then began to pray). I said amen, she looked at me with kind of a funny look on her face, gave me a big hug and then said, "love you" and ran off to play with her friends.
After school, I asked her about our little awkward prayer time and she said, "Daddy, it's just something kids understand about prayer." I looked at her confused and said, "what do you mean, what do kids understand, that I don't about praying on the playground? Did it embarrass you or make you feel like you were in trouble or something." She said, "no, nothing like that, it just is something kids understand." And at that, I smiled and said, "Okay, I will be more sensitive to that, next time I try to pray on the playground with you."
I love being a Dad because of conversations like this. It reminds me that when it comes to being a Dad and a spiritual leader of my family, I have so much to learn, so much room to grow. It also reminds me of the precious nature of building a spiritual relationship with my daughter. Sometimes, it will be difficult, sometimes it will be easy, but it will never be predictable! And I like that. It keeps me humble and dependent on God as a Dad. I will never stop praying for my daughter. I will never stop looking for opportunities to point her towards Jesus and the wonderful news of the Gospel. I will never stop pursuing her heart and displaying the Father's love to her. But I might stop praying with her out loud on the school playground, hahaha.
I came across a great blog post from Perry Noble today on Dad's and Daughters that kind of connects to my interaction with my daughter today.
Check it out here.
