When the girls were younger we would go into stores and public places like a brood of young chicks. Resembling stair steps, my girls would go where I went following each path I took as the stares from others often took place. It took me a while to overcome the comments from naysayers unable to understand why we would choose to have such a large family. However, the comments that bothered me the most were the ones geared toward Wade. Comments like, “Oh poor dad with all of those girls.” Or better yet, “you just wait until all of those girls are older.” It bothered me so much because I knew with all of my heart that Wade Nagy was made to be a Girl Dad.
Having the Call to be a Girl Dad is a privilege.
Too often, we glorify the wrong things. We idolize those that seem to have “arrived” and are always seen making a difference. We forget the small impacts that have lasting impressions that take place in our homes. The acts of service that are never seen and often unrecognized by others. The words of affirmation that are spoken within our walls to little hearts. The fears that are comforted each night at tuck-ins. The experiences that change hearts and lock away lasting memories that shape us in who we will become. The behind-the-scene kitchen moments that bring laughter and fun to our mundane evenings.
This is the kind of Girl Dad that lives in our home.
The kind of dad that combats those comments with “I love my girls and I am proud to be their dad.” The reactions of “I can’t wait until they are older and I can walk them through life’s challenges.” It is always surprising to see their reactions when Wade comments back in defense of his calling.
Are there lots of emotions in our home? Yes, of course. Girls are made to emote. The original meaning of emotion was to move. An action or a reaction of some sort. A stirring.
Paul urged the young evangelist Timothy: “Stir up [rekindle] the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
2 Timothy 1:6-7
Emotion allows us to stir up the gifts, callings, and desires of what the Holy Spirit wants us to do. It is through emotion that God often calls us to step out in faith, reroute our direction and change the world, one small step at a time. However, so many correlate girls and emotions as too much to handle. And maybe for some, it is.
But not Girl Dads.
Girl dads are made for the emotions that their little girls carry. They sit down with their daughters and hear what they have to say. Girl Dads carry heavyweights that prove to their girls that no matter what comes their way, their dad is their protector. They can handle it and from the eyes of a little girl, their daddy is the strongest man in the world. Girl dads know how to chase hearts. They will run after, seek and find until an embrace happens that brings tears and surrender. Girl Dads never stop pursuing.
Girl Dads carry the heart of our Heavenly Father.
When I was little, there was nothing my dad could do to make me stop loving him. Still to this day, he is one of the most important people in my life. He has shown me love, forgiveness, and surrender in ways that only a Girl Dad can do. He has shown me how much my Heavenly Father loves me by his intense love for me. Therefore, I know that my life comes before his own. And that to me, is a heavenly picture of how God feels about us. That through the sacrifice of His Only Son, He was thinking of me. Of you.
God is the ultimate Girl Dad.
This month, I want to write about Our Home. I am becoming more and more aware that God is calling our family to speak out about the things we do in our home and what has helped strengthen our family. I assure you that most of the things we have learned to do in the natural have come from severe loss, hurt and failure. But by the grace of God and second chances, He redeems our failures and gives us ways to improve our family. Therefore, I want to share these thoughts with you.
Things that make our Girl Dad, a great dad…
HE SPEAKS UP.
Wade never falls shy in this department. If something is said or needs to be said in order to protect, promote or provide for his girls, he will do it. Regardless of the costs. I have watched him physically protect his girls from rude grocery shoppers that had little patience with little hands and feet in the way. I have watched him use his words to speak up for them in a way that only a Girl Dad can do. And I have watched him go to his boss or place of work and ask for more provision, take side jobs of plenty and even work night jobs after their bedtimes to provide without the sacrifice of spending less time with them.
HE SAYS I LOVE YOU.
Our girls do not leave our home, nor lay down their heads without a reminder of his love for them. As they get older and show affection in different ways, he never holds back his words of saying I love you. They may not embrace the kisses like they once did when they were younger, but the words hold value. Saying I love you reminds them, they are safe, they are seen and they are heard. And they are worthy of His love.
HE ADMITS WHEN HE IS WRONG.
Too often we underestimate the power of forgiveness in the heart of a child. It is this very act that God uses in the sacrifice of His only Son. It is because of His character that we ourselves are forgiven. Therefore to ask for forgiveness from the heart of our children is saying, I love you more than my own pride. I am willing to lay down my life for you and admit when I am wrong. Forgiveness opens our hearts to the heart of a Good Father. Forgiveness gives us all permission to be broken, allowing our kids to know it is ok to not be perfect.
HE POINTS US TO JESUS.
Through his words, his love and his acts of forgiveness, he points us all closer to Jesus.
A Girl Dad speaks up…
Loves well.
Forgives often.
Prays daily.
Cries.
Listens.
Embraces.
Protects.
Pursues.
To all the Girl Dads raising up daughters who are secure, protected and loved, thank you. And to all the Boy Dads who are raising up sons who will one day become a Godly leader to our daughters, thank you. Everything we do in our homes matter.
