Being a father isn't easy. I want to help my girls develop the maturity to handle situations on their own and yet I want to jump in and keep them safe at all costs. It's a tough balancing act of wanting to hang on to them and letting them go.
My oldest daughter is heading out to prom and while I am happy for her and this opportunity, part of me wants to grab her and keep her safe in this house with us. It's an urge I had to fight to chase this young man off my porch and whisk her back into the comfortable confines our our family home. While we might protect her a bit longer if we keep her here, it won't help her in the long run. At some point we have to let her and her sisters go and trust that what we've done has been good enough.
I want to be their protector forever and while I will gladly fill that role when they call, it won't look the same way that it does now. They will figure some things out on their own and will get hurt when they don't make the right decision. They will have regrets, but I am confident that they will also have great successes. I just pray that they know we are here for them whenever they might need us. I'm also grateful that they still need us right now as they learn who they are and who they are becoming. I'm more thankful that even when I can't be there I can trust that the Father who made them will watch over them more carefully than I ever could.
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