Like Father, Like Daughter

You know that phrase “What would Jesus do?”. It became really popular when I was in high school. Kids started wearing those bracelets with WWJD on them and it seemed as if that phrase was everywhere. I never really gave into the hype, in fact I thought some of those people were using the phrase to support some bad behavior that they didn’t want judged. It just didn’t make much sense to me. But then again, I wasn’t really your average teenager.

As others were trying to get far away from their parents and tried to do everything they could to “rebel” I was pretty confident in my parents. Instead of thinking about what Jesus would do I would often wonder what my parents would do or say in certain situations. That’s not to say that Jesus wasn’t or isn’t a huge part of my life--but somehow my parents seemed a little more “real”. I was able to visualize them easier and because they were human I knew that I could try to live up to their standards better than I could live up to being perfect like Jesus. (Not that I didn’t or don’t try to be as perfect as I can every day) The problem was that my parents had amazingly high standards. Looking back at those adolescent years I am so thankful for those standards. I wanted to please my parents and make them proud of who I was as a person. I wanted them to be able to brag about me and to tell their friends that I was such a good teenager. I think most of the time I did a pretty good job of that.

Now that I am an adult I still find myself thinking “what would my parents do/say?” Once I thought that it might not be good that I think that way, but after thinking about it I’m glad I still have those thoughts. My parents are wonderful people. They live holy lives and strive to serve God in all that they do. Why wouldn’t I want their approval?

I’ve talked about how much I look up to my mom multiple times on this blog. I haven’t really talked about my dad very much. I’m pretty lucky to have the dad that I do. I would not be the person I am today if it weren’t for my dad. We were pretty much side-kicks during my teenage years. (drove my mom crazy!) You hear all the time about how important the father/daughter relationship is, and I am here to tell you that it is! For some reason the relationship that a father and a daughter have totally shapes a girl into womanhood. One of my brothers even likes to say that I’m a clone of my dad’s. I don’t think that’s quite the case, but we are very similar in how we think and how we look at life.

This morning I received an e-mail from my dad. Which is weird for more than one reason. My dad is about the last person I ever expect to receive e-mails from. He types one finger pecking at a time. He’s always had a secretary to do all the typing. So I was pleasantly surprised when I received the e-mail. It’s also weird to hear from my dad, he’s not really great at keeping up communication. Usually, I call him and check in, so hearing from him was a pleasant surprise. It was a pretty simple e-mail, but it really made my day. It was the best way to start out the day--hearing that my dad is proud of me. It’s not that I didn’t know that already, but it’s always nice to hear over again. It made me think that I need to do a better job of letting all the people in my life know how much I love them.

Whenever we hear that someone loves us or is proud of us--especially when it’s a parent saying it to a child, it gives us an especially wonderful feeling inside. So if you are a parent, don’t forget that no matter how old your child is or how “grown up” they may seem, hearing that you are proud of them and love them is one of the greatest gifts you can ever give them. Not to mention it helps remind me that even though I am an adult and I am accountable for my own actions my parents still have standards that they expect me to live up to, and I’m glad they do. Luckily I seem to be meeting those standards--or at least coming close.