True North: Because He Loves You Sample

Day 6: Release

I think fathers, especially of daughters, live for one day. Or a better description, we live dreading one day—the day we have to take our daughters to a different Daddy/Daughter dance. On that day we'll only get one dance, and although she will still be the most beautiful little girl in the room, we won't have her full attention. Another man will.

There are two ways in which I don't think I'll ever be completely ready for that day. First, I don't think I'll ever be emotionally prepared to let my daughter completely go into the arms of a man. In my eyes, she will always be my little girl, never old enough to get married and never old enough to move away. I'll always see her as the innocent girl she is today, not ready for all that marriage brings.

Secondly, I don't want to stop protecting her and release her to the world. There is so much that I have learned as an adult, and so much that I'm still learning that I want to shield her from. I want to shelter her from bad decisions. I want to step in and intervene when she's headed toward disaster. I want to have the emergency brake when I see her headed into traffic. I want her to choose the right things, and I never want her to go through hardships.

But I know there comes a time when every parent must step back and give their children the ability to make decisions on their own. There is a time when my daughter will be grown and will pursue love. There is a time when my daughter won't see me as the smartest man in her life. There is a time when her husband will ask if I can stop calling every morning to make sure she's up for work. There is a time when she must cleave to her husband. Unfortunately, there is a time when I have to step back and let her live with the decisions she makes, good or bad. Just like scraping her knees as a child, she will fall as an adult, and ideally, the preparation we gave her will give her the strength to stand back up. I just hope she feels that she can come running to me at any time because even though she will be free to go, I'll always be right there.

God prepares us for the same release into the world by allowing us to make our own decisions. His desire is that our decisions, and the consequences that accompany them, lead us back to Him. What I mean is, that God isn't pulling the puppet strings and making sure that we only make good decisions. Inversely, He's not pulling the puppet strings to make some people make bad decisions. He gives us the freedom to make our own decisions, and we have to live with those consequences, good or bad. As a result of our decisions, and what we live through, both the highs and the lows and all in between, I believe God wants us to turn to Him and realize what He has done for us through His son Jesus. Once we realize that, running to Him and worshiping Him will be our only natural response.

One day, I will release Sawyer to make her own decisions, because I love her. God releases you to make your decisions, in the hope that one day you will return. Because He loves you