Wednesday, May 2, 2012

"Married Dress" Memories

Last night our 'almost' three-year-old daughter Selah wanted to put on her "married dress". This has become a regular occurrence since last summer when she was the flower girl in my sister-in-law's wedding.

Selah finds someone in the house to help her put on her white satin dress, tie the bow in the back, and then she parades around the house like a princess to find her husband to be. She usually ropes her older brother Josiah into getting "married". 


Last night at the very moment she was looking for a groom, she saw me from down the hall, and our eyes locked as she smiled. Within seconds she was there with me and we danced a little. Then, with her mother narrating the steps, I got down on one knee and looked her in the eyes. I took off my wedding ring and placed it on her pointer finger. At this point, the narrator (my own beautiful bride, Rachel), said that the next step was to give each other a hug. It's a moment this Father will not soon forget.

I pray that memories like this one always remind her that she is loved by God, she is precious to me, and that she is worthy of love from the man she will one day put on a "married dress" for.


I want her to trust that God not only sees her as of great worth, but that he sees all people this way. As she values people rightly, I pray that she will be generous toward them, and through such generosity I hope she will begin to understand more fully God's relentless, overflowing, love for her. May generosity mark the generations of my family long after my time.


"I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed."

Psalm 37:25-26


Question:  How are you encouraging those you love to be generous? Please leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you.

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