My husband and I are realizing how fast our daughter is growing and maturing (she's 10 now). We also know that along with age comes great changes in a young girl's life. In a few years she will be very aware of boys and also the influences to "look" like what the media says she should, and much more. To be prepared for these years we've started now to look for ways to guard her heart against the desires this world has to offer her and instead look to what Christ has done for her and the freedom she has in staying under His protection. We don't want her to turn to her peers for advice in life, but to her parents whom God has given her to direct and guide her in ways of wisdom-God's wisdom. We don't want her looking to "TEEN" magazine and asking "Jane" for advice, I mean, really,have you ever read where it said "Go ask MOM and DAD"?!! Sadly, this world would like to suck her up and spit her out and although we have no control over where she will go in life, we do have control now in our home for the influences and choices she's faced with. Our greatest desire is for her to find her indentity and confidence in Christ and not in what the media and culture tells her is so. We have the opportunities now to touch her heart and help her to discipline herself to follow after TRUTH-God's Word.
Anyways...To get to the point of the title. One of the things Dad has started doing a couple times a month is dating his daughter. This is just a special hour or two where just the two of them go and get an ice cream or lunch and just chat and talk and just enjoy one another's company. She is so giggly and feels so cherished when dad says "We have a date this afternoon"...We strongly believe this is a way that can guard her heart against the desires to one day have the "need" to find that "male" attention, because she will already be receiving it from her daddy and won't need to find it elsewhere. And when the time does come when God sends that special young man who does capture her heart, she will, we hope, measure him to daddy's special standards and hopefully God's above all.
So off they go today building a relationship that we pray will encourage her little heart to see what it means to wait, stay pure, and prepare to be a wife for the right young man.....ONE day....Not too far away...
If you have a daughter(s), there is a great book full of godly wisdom and advice for moms and daughters, it is by Carolyn Mahaney, called, "GIRLTALK"
2 comments:
You are very wise parents. So many parents wait until their daughters are 16 and then say, "What should we do now? What are our standards for dating?"
None of our children have been / will be involved in typical dating relationships until they are out of high school. We acknowledge when they are interested in someone. We talk about the positive/negative characteristics of the person. We allow group activities, but no pairing off. We encourage healthy, godly relationships and have told our kids many times that the best marriages are built on a best-friend relationship. And, we help our children to focus on BECOMING the type of person that will make a wonderful spouse, rather than focusing on LOOKING FOR that perfect spouse.
Way to think through these things early on.
Laurel
mama of 13
Laurel, I love that idea, it simply gaurds their hearts against any temptations floating around in that time of life. We have the idea that when you date (I wish I did when I was teen), you are dating to marry, you are dating to find a spouse. So this will be our question when our children want to date...."Are you ready to marry"...I loved your focusing on "becoming" the wife and or hubby instead of focusing on finding a spouse.
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