Are We Listening?

Tonight Superman and I took time for a much needed adult dinner out.  Not a date night, mind you, but just a quick bite to eat before heading back to his shop to help him get some work finished so he can get back on the road tomorrow.   I married the hardest working man I know...he has been working non stop for about the past month.  I just was so glad he asked me to tag along to eat and run an errand, I really didn't care what we ate...I am sure many of you know exactly what I am talking about, men who work so hard to provide for their families and give so much to us!

We were enjoying our Jammin Jalapeno Wings and fried pickles at www.buffalowildwings.com when I heard a little girl voice "daddy, daddy" many times.  My husband caught my eye and he too, realized what a sweet, little girl voice it was calling to her daddy over and over.  "Daddy, please listen to me.  Daddy, did you hear me?" I promise, this went on for at least 5 minutes.  Broke my heart.  To the core.  Made my heart SAD.  You know the kind of sad I am talking about, at least many of you do.  Many of you, you who are so blessed to have had the daddy who hung the moon, will not understand.  I told my husband how that sweet,  little,  sing-song voice was breaking my heart.  He said the most profound statement.  "One day, she won't say Daddy, Daddy anymore and she will find a boy who will answer that Daddy, Daddy and then her daddy will say WHAT happened?! to my little girl? and he will truly have no clue."  Then, he looked across the room to the table where a teen aged boy with green hair, lots of piercings, and rebellion written all over his face sat and said, "that boy, the one with the green hair, HE will listen, HE will pay attention to her, and that daddy will not have a clue where he failed and when he lost his little girl."   I said, you should go over, speak to that daddy...tell him how precious this time is with his little girl and encourage him to listen to her.  He just shook his head and sadly said, "no, not my fight". 

I write this not because I am judging the father, maybe he was exhausted, maybe he just lost his job, maybe he just found out someone he loves is very ill...and not because I think that all green haired, pierced young men are full of rebellion and out to cause trouble.  I write this to say...I am so thankful that my man has raised our two daughters in a way that constantly amazes me!  Just last Sunday he was finally able to head home after being on the road for a week and having very little sleep.  As usual, he called to say he was headed our way and did we need anything?  I told him that Natalie was supposed to wear a jersey for praise team that morning at church (we are not sports fans and didn't have one to represent our new home state in the house) so he offered to stop to pick one up for her (Oh, and does Ally want one too, he asked?) even though he had only slept for 3 hours in the past 48 hours.  That's the kind of daddy my man is!   He is devoted to teaching them to be young ladies, to honor and respect their mother, to look for a husband...not an every-Friday-night-date, to follow their dreams, and most of all...to be the young lady God created them to be. 

So tonight I was once again reminded....listen to the little girl, when she is 20 and a grown young woman trying to find her way in this world, listen to the little girl, who is graduating from high school and ready to make some adult decisions, to the little girl in her tweens who doesn't see her value or beauty,  to the little girl, who is only 5 but learning to live without her daddy due to a divorce, and to the little girl in an adult woman who is hurting because she never had a daddy who listened. Then, point each of them to Jesus, the best daddy God has given ALL of his children, male or female.