Dad, give her wings! 

🥹 The father, daughter dance is one of the most beautiful moments in a wedding. But for the dads in the room it’s terrifying 😆 I took this picture from my table at Ainsley and Barron Truelock’s wedding last Sunday. Ainsley’s the daughter of longtime friends Jon and LeiAnn Stovall. Jon serves as an elder at Grace Bible and LeiAnn serves on our connect team. You can also catch them serving together in the church nursery really often. 

The whole wedding was amazing — Christ-centered, joyful and beautiful. But when Jon and Ainsley started dancing at the reception, I took note of the dads around me. Some fidgeted, some looked at the floor, others got up from their seat and went for seconds, dessert, or coffee. During a father daughter dance dads will do just about anything but sit and stare squarely into what is coming for them with their own daughter one day. Not gonna lie, I cried. Didn’t help that Casey leaned over to me and said “You’ve already done this once. You’ve got 2 more to go.” 💔💀😂 My buddy Jon did great though, he was all dad business. Looked right at Ainsley, talked with her. Smiled. He made the most of the moment, for her. That’s what dads need to do! It’s not about us. Letting go is hard, but it’s also right and wonderful! And just in general Dads always need to seek to do hard things that make their daughters feel strong and full of joy. That’s our job. That’s our privilege. 

Recently I was at a mandatory training for foster parents. One of the Directors told a story about a troubled teen girl who didn’t have a dad in her life. The Director and others had stepped in to help her in every way they could. He shared that in a moment of vulnerability the teenage girl had told him “I feel like little girls are like angels without wings and it’s their daddy’s job to give them their wings. My daddy’s never gonna give me mine.” 😢 

Man… Dad’s let’s give our girls wings. Let’s raise them in the Lord, and send them out in love with confidence to do whatever God has planned for them. Let’s be good to them, knowing they’ll relate to others the way we relate to them. Let’s be careful with our words. Let’s use our time with them wisely. Let’s point them to the ultimate Father in Heaven who’ll never have to “give her away” and to the Savior who ensures she’s always CALLED, LOVED, and KEPT. Giving her wings means doing hard things to help her be strong, full of faith, full of love, and full of joy.

One more thought — you may be a young lady reading this feeling like the girl from the story without a dad to give you wings. You need to know that I heard that story in a room full of people (foster parents) committed to, by God’s grace, stepping up, and stepping in, to help you any way we can. That Director’s story about the troubled teen ended with a room full of brave, hopeful, helpful people holding up angel wings to give to that young lady at her graduation ceremony💪🏻 Teachers, youth leaders, coaches, principals, mentors, foster parents, anyone given the privilege to speak into the life of a young lady, you can be a part of giving her wings.

**also just to clarify, I know people aren’t angels. I know we don’t become angels. This was just a helpful illustration from a young lady’s limited understanding that might also be helpful to us 😊

Blessings, 

Roy