Starting on the first day of her life, a little girl's dad is the example of what a "man" is and what "love" means. Unfortunately not all men are good examples, and on too many occassions girls are taught the wrong example of what a "man" is, how she should be treated by men, and what love really means. While growing up and during my four years of teaching, I saw too many young girls that have the wrong definition of what a "man" is and how she should be loved and treated by others. Now I am not saying that all girls with good examples will value themselves and find good men and all girls with bad examples will turn out to have a low self-value or become strippers, but I greatly believe that there is a huge correlation between the example of a "man" in a girl's life and what she will get out of life and the value she will have in herself.
Fortunately, I was blessed with the best daddy. He was and still is the most influential man in my life. He taught me (and still teaches me) so many things: how to hit a softball, how to throw a football, how to check my oil and tire pressure in my car, the difference between a phillips-head and flat-head screwdriver, how to drive...but most importantly, he taught me how to love and how to be loved.
Trace Adkins has a new song called "Just Fishin'." If you haven't heard it, it's about memories in the making between a little girl and her daddy. (I posted the song at the bottom of this blog.) Although she thinks they are "just fishing," so much more is taking place; they are making memories that will last a lifetime and will become so important to her as she gets older. It's so true! Looking back at all the things my dad and I did, all of those things are so much more now. We used to go to the backyard every day and throw the softball. At the time I thought we were just having fun and I was learning to be a better pitcher. But now I know that he was teaching me that a good man will make time for me and encourage me to live out my dreams and reach for my goals. He told my sister and me that he was proud of us and that we were beautiful. He reminded us each and every day of how much he loved us. At the time we thought he said those things because he "had to" because he was our dad. Yeah, partly he said it because he was our dad, but he meant it. He was also shaping the image in our minds of how a man should treat us. Not only did he show us love and respect, but he showed all of that to our mom infront of us (and continues to today...he brought her flowers yesterday :)), and we were watching and learning the whole time. I cannot stress how much I believe that a dad (a positive, loving, respectful dad) is the greatest influence of a girl's self-worth and value when it comes to adult relationships and what she expects out of men. Meghan and I are the most independent, confident women I know, all thanks to the love we got from our father and the example set by our mother.
So, dads of daughters... This is your time to shine. Be your daughter's hero. Treat her with respect. Give her too much love. Be that man in her life that she will be proud of and will look back and cherish those memories with. Make sure she knows how valuable she is. Spoil her and reassure her that she deserves nothing less than that. And, when she looks back at all of these memories in the making, she will know that there was more going on than "just fishin'."
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