Daddy’s Girl

          Last night my wife’s folks came in from Missouri about the same time we arrived from Arizona. Thank you for the prayers for your pastor as we preached the closing night of the International Student Convention for Accelerated Christian Education. It was thrilling to see thousands of young people from around the world congregating at one location to glorify God.

          But today our main task is to drive to Baytown to see a young lady my brother-in-law called “Claire-Bear” (Claire Wright) graduate from High School. Kenny Wright was a young man when God called him from this world. Claire was only six. Although she has had to grow up for the better part of her life without her father’s physical presence, she will always be lodged in my mind as a “daddy’s girl.” So tonight we drive across town to honor daddies and their girls. Two of our four children are female and I always considered my girls to be “daddy’s girls.” As a matter of fact, “daddy’s girls” have surrounded me all my life. To begin with, my mom was most definitely one. My wife was unmistakably one. My mother-in-law, whose mother died in her early childhood, was one by default. And my sister was one. So what’s the big deal about “daddy’s girls?” What determines one? What is the influence? And there might be some who are wondering now, what possible good could I portray in this article on this subject? We joke about it – but I am suggesting there are some good things that could and should be said about this wonderful phenomenon.  

1. A daddy’s girl brings out the best in a dad.

          A dad can often come across as being gruff and rough around the edges, but let a little girl come into his life and a softening comes over the old boy that serves him well. I have seen the hurried father arrive at a school performance of his daughter’s. See the picture with me. He sits down, turns off his cell phone, loosens his tie, and rubs his eyes in fatigue. Then suddenly in the dim light of the auditorium, his scowl melts into an electric smile as his little girl comes across the stage. As she sings or quotes her lines, I see him rubbing his eyes again, to now brush the unrestrained tears of unashamed love. After the play, the family goes for ice cream and the dad tells her how proud he is of her. He checks on her after she has turned in for the night. As he gently closes the door, he is a better man. He wants her to turn out well and does not want anything he does to interfere with his intended goal, which is for her to grow up to be a virtuous woman. Daddy’s girl has the ability to stir him to the next level spiritually. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:12).  

2. A daddy’s girl represents untarnished innocence.

          When James talked of those who lived for only what this world has to offer, he put it like this: “Your gold and silver is cankered…”(James 5:3). When a daddy sees the little girl that God has given him and his wife, he realizes that she has an incredible prospect of a bright future. The Word of God says, “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies” (Proverbs 31:10). Unlike the citizen of the world whose gold is fool’s gold and silver is tin, the Christian female most particularly models that which God esteems the true worth, i.e. the virtuous and godly life. He says, it “…is far above rubies.” So, the Christian dad is under the responsibility to preserve and protect the virtue that God desires.  

3. A daddy’s girl is one of life’s best assurances of the generational blessing.

          As we age, we begin to realize we are not meant to stay in this world as we are forever. The fact is, we shall soon be in glory, some of us sooner than others. The Bible commands us, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (Psalms 90:12). In the faith, we understand the need to pass the faith on to our children. Paul said to Timothy, “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also” (II Timothy 1:5).

          I love the passage that tells us of the tenacity of Caleb’s daughter. She is determined to not be left out of the inheritance of the Lord as received from her dad. The Bible says, “And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou? Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families” (Joshua 15:18-20). Achsah, the daughter of Caleb would not be denied. Yes, Caleb was the giant-killer and mountain-mover, the right hand and heart of Joshua. Yet, we believe that behind many, if not most, good men is a woman. Long live the Achsahs! The girls, who know what is best, recognize it and will not settle for anything less than God’s very best. It is no accident that to this day in Orthodox Judaism, the female determines the heritage of the children.  

4. A daddy’s girl usually makes the finest wife.

          A true daddy’s girl transfers the love and loyalty she gave to her dad over to her spouse. My wife has made a real believer of this for me. I thought when we first married, I’ll never be able to measure-up to K.P. Wright. How do you husband a wife who has the perfect dad? Boy, was I in for a surprise! A daddy’s girl has expectations of a man. The norms and standards of a daddy’s girl are not to tear down her husband. The closeness that she has shared with her father is there, because of the respect she has for him. She is like the virtuous woman of Proverbs thirty-one of whom it says, “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:12). In a very sweet way, daddy’s girl can help drive her husband on to integrity in this matter. “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land” (Proverbs 31:23).  

5. A daddy’s girl is a natural mom.

          I’m going to give you a phrase that is not politically correct. As you read or hear it said, the humanistic feminist will cringe, but that’s okay; I did not receive or seek their advice before I wrote this article. Here’s the phrase: “Daddy’s girl knows her place.” The Bible says, the young mother is, “To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:5). This by no means limits or curtails the fun and adventure of a girl. Speaking again of a virtuous woman, the Bible says, “She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar” (Proverbs 31:14). Some years ago, a former president of the United States wife said she was not going to be some cookie-making mom who “stands by her man.” How sad that she could not understand that being industrious and aggressive does not have to compete with a woman’s role as wife and mother. Now, if a woman is industrious and aggressive to the neglect of her family, it is most definitely wrong.

          I know of a young lady, who loves music. She has trained for it all her life. She plays in an orchestra, travels across one of the largest cities in the country to give violin lessons, attends Sunday morning, evening and Wednesday night services at her church as well as goes on weekly visitation. Then she sells Mary Kay on the side. I have observed her life. Busy as it is, it never interferes with her role as wife and mother. Like the harmony of the music she plays, her life brings glory to God, esteem to her husband and eventually she will have the utmost respect from her children. They will arise and call her blessed (Proverbs 31:28). The young lady of whom I speak happens to be the first one to ever call me…Dad. She is and ever shall be – a daddy’s girl. Although, my dear brother-in-law cannot physically be at his daughter’s graduation from High School, my prayer for his little girl is that she too will bring glory to God, esteem to her husband and respect from her children. And may she like the best women I know always be – a daddy’s girl.