By Kelly Carr

Today when talking to my neighbor about our family backgrounds, she said, “You’re a
daddy’s girl, aren’t you?” I unashamedly agreed that I am. She said she could tell by some of the pictures and comments I’d recently posted on Facebook. That made me smile to know she could infer the closeness of our relationship. I’m proud of my dad!

Daddy’s Girl

Because of my dad:

• I learned how to ride a bike. And drive a car. 

• I went on roller coasters as a kid. (Mom took me on all the round-and-round rides he couldn’t handle.)

• I love sports. (For that my husband is truly grateful.) He coached all my softball games and took me with him to watch basketball and baseball.

• I got to travel to England when he had to go for work.

• I was raised in church. My parents were youth group sponsors for the high school kids when I was still young. I watched my dad giving his time for other people’s kids and then for me when I was older. I also saw him humbly serve as a deacon and then elder in our congregation. Both my dad and mom had dads who loved the Lord, and I’m glad they passed that heritage on to me. I’m glad that I had many years with both of my grandfathers so I could experience their love firsthand. 

• I knew qualities I wanted to find in a husband: respectful and loving; filled with the desire to learn and laugh; godly. 

• And because of my dad I didn’t have to struggle to comprehend a heavenly Father’s love because he modeled an earthly dad’s love so well.

Sons & Fathers

I can testify to the importance of a relationship between a daughter and her dad because that’s my perspective. (Read more from a dad’s point of view on raising daughters by Dale Reeves.) But I’ve also observed the importance of dads and sons when I watch my husband and my father-in-law. (Read more from a dad’s point of view on raising sons by T. R. Robertson.)

When I hear my husband, Steve, talk about his dad or when I watch the two of them interact, I know there is a respectful love there. I know Steve and his brothers sought to live up to their father’s expectations. I know they are pleased to have his approval. I know they have developed the qualities of hard work, taking care of their families, and serving in the church after they saw these modeled by their dad.  

Dads are important. Sometimes they get a bad rap. But I hope you’ve had godly men in your life, whether a father, another member of the family, or a non-relative who served as a role model, such as a teacher, a minister, or a neighbor. On this day, celebrate the godly men you know. Let them know that when they chose to live up to God’s standards, they became a blessing to you and to others who have followed after them.