I missed Daughter’s Day….again.

I cannot seem to keep up with all the special days that have been added to the calendar, especially since there often seem to be disagreements on exactly when each recognition occurs.

Not to make an excuse or to depreciate the importance of celebrating loved ones, but in my heart, every day is Daughter’s Day, and it has been since our firstborn made her appearance on the day before Thanksgiving almost forty years ago.

I am proud of and thankful for our two daughters. I could tell you about their accomplishments, their travels, their degrees, and certifications, and I am thankful for their abilities and successes, but those are not the things of which I am most proud or thankful.

I am proud of them for being mothers in a world that denounces the sacredness of motherhood. I love watching them nurture their children. They make lunches and braid hair. They help with homework and clean rooms. They encourage and discipline. They juggle careers and homemaking, but they do not forget that their most important job requires baths and snuggles and numerous hugs. They are investing in the future every single day as they interact with the precious gifts God has entrusted to them. I am proud of them for being good moms.

I am proud of our daughters for cherishing their marriages. Marriage cannot be taken for granted these days, and it is not for the faint of heart. These ladies, though, took their vows seriously, and they are living out those vows. Right in the middle of the sarcasm and distrust that abound in this world, they are loving and caring and respecting their husbands. They are holding fast to their position as women of grace, even when the prevailing culture urges them to let it go. I am proud of them for being good wives.

My heart is most thankful that their hearts and lives belong to God. They are my sisters as well as my daughters, because they have trusted in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Their lives showcase that belief in their actions, their manners, and their aspirations, and it is because of this belief that they are the amazing mothers and wives that they are. They pray for their children. They pray for their husbands. They serve and they give. I am so thankful that our daughters are Christians.

I love watching our daughters grow in friendship with others. They reach out and lift up. They encourage others, and they lend a helping hand. I can see their spheres of influence increasing even as mine grows smaller, and that is how it should be. I am proud of them for being good friends.

I could go on. Our daughters are easy to talk about and easy to love. Like arrows, their dad and I shot them into the warfare of this world. They have flown straight and true, and I have no doubt that God will enable them to hit the mark He has set for them.

So, Happy Daughter’s Day, girls – late, as usual.  In case you ever wondered, and I don’t think you did, you are loved. You are cherished. You are precious. You are kept by the power of God, and you are safe in His hands.

III John ² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. ³ For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (NKJV)

Photo – Ebenezer, Cossatot River Arkansas, Beth Mims