Yesterday Nyra spent a good hour excitedly planning her wedding. She made Emily the flower girl. I’m not sure who I was but I wasn’t allowed to look at her dress and was ordered to take a nap. I know I wasn’t the groom though, because she was kind enough to introduce me to him before I gave her hand in marriage. She brought me into the bedroom (where I was to take a nap, presumably for my overworked nerves, though I suspect it was just a ploy to keep me out of the way) and announced proudly, “See, this is my husband. His name is Mr. Baloo.” She yanked an old, gray stuffed bear off the bed and said “I’m keeping him here so he doesn’t get in the way until my wedding.” It seems the groom and I were to suffer the same fate.
Gosh I love this little girl.
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I know you’ll fail her. I know she’ll disappoint you. I know that. It’s called being human. It’s called sin, something we’re all born with and can never “shake off”. But I also know that God reached down into all this failure, disappointment and sin. He loved you and me and Nyra and this world He created enough to enter the fray in the Person of His Son Jesus Christ.
It’s only because of Jesus, the gift of salvation He purchased for you, the gift I’m praying you’ll accept, that I can look forward to meeting you someday. It’s only because of Him that I’ll be able to let my baby girl say “I do” to a real man, not an imaginary bear in her bedroom. And a real man is what I pray you’ll be when I meet you, because let me tell you something pal, this daddy ain’t letting his girl fall in love with no boy. If you’re a boy when you fall in love with her, fine. I wouldn’t blame you, I’ve been in love with her for her whole dadgum life. But when you decide you want to pursue my daughter, don’t you come after her passively like a boy. Don’t you saunter after her for just her looks, or just the feelings she gives you, or the status she gives you, or anything other than a desire to cherish her, care for her, and point her to the One who created and saved her. When you decide to get up off the couch and pursue her like a man, then you come and talk to me, understand? Oops, did that come across as intimidating? Did I make you wet your pants a little?
Good. If you aren’t scared of your crush’s daddy, you probably aren’t that serious about her heart. That fear I hope I put in your heart is what separates you from all the boys drooling over my daughter’s physical appearance, and what shows me you’re a true man willing to risk life and limb and embarrassing conversations to win my girl’s heart and my approval. You’re a man I’d not only be willing to let pursue my daughter, but a man I’ll be proud to call my son when you stand shaking in your suit at the altar. The same way I was shaking in mine when I married Nyra’s mom however many years ago it was when you finally get ahold of this letter.
Thanks for reading this, Baloo. Thanks for loving my little girl. Thanks for never letting her forget the most important things. Thanks for overlooking her shortcomings. Thanks for making her life special in a way that her mom and I can’t. Thanks for being a real man. Can’t wait to meet you, brother. Just don’t hurry too fast. I want to enjoy as many years with my little girl as I can before you show up. Praying for you.
Sincerely,
Nyra’s Daddy
P.S. I’m not afraid to use a gun.