Posted: 11/12/04
DOWN HOME:
Lifetime prayers yield a blessing
“Daddy, I have something to tell you,” Lindsay said over the phone, calling me at my office late on a deadline night.
“What's that, Doll?” I asked, anticipating the next words from my oldest daughter, who has blessed me with incomprehensible joy and delight for 21 years.
“Aaron asked me to marry him.”
This was not a shock. Aaron and I went to breakfast and had “the talk” five days before, during homecoming at Hardin-Simmons University, where Lindsay and Aaron are students and where her mother, Joanna, and I met and fell in love.
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Still, my eyes misted and my throat tightened. I'm not sure a father ever fully prepares for a moment like this.
I told Lindsay this was wonderful news, that I was so proud of her, that I was thrilled for her. And I meant every word of it.
Meanwhile, as I spoke, beautiful images raced through my mind–how she looked the first time her mother and I were alone with her in the hospital room; the way 4-year-old Lindsay held onto my shirt when I took Sunday afternoon naps with her, so I couldn't get up before she awoke; how she used to run to hug me when I got home from work in the afternoon; the way she talked to me in the mornings in the car in sixth grade, when I drove her to school; the first and last times I saw her perform as a drill team member in high school; how her hair smelled when I hugged her goodbye as we left her at HSU her freshman year; and more.
A father feels conflicting emotions at such a moment.
First is deep and abiding joy and gratitude. I've been praying for Aaron nearly all his life. Years before I met him, I prayed for him. And I prayed for his mom and dad, that they would raise him to be a Christ-following, God-honoring, gentle and decent man. Now, I'm grateful and glad God answered that prayer.
Second, I must admit, is a more bittersweet feeling. Before Aaron came along, I always had been the most important man in Lindsay's life. And while their love and this relationship are wonderful gifts from God, I admit I feel a bit out-of-balance.
That's OK; I'll adjust.
Especially because of what Aaron said when I asked him why he wanted to marry my firstborn daughter: She's his best friend. She always makes him laugh. He knows that at the end of every day, she'll always be the one he most wants to see, and she'll always be there for him. He thought she was gorgeous the first time he laid eyes on her. Later, he learned she was smart, and he was intrigued. And then, when he discovered she is a deeply faithful Christian, he knew she was The One.
Perfect answer: That's exactly how I would have described her mother.
Aaron is blessed–and a blessing.
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