About Your Father

N.,

Let me tell you a bit about your father. As I sit here, not having seen him for over 24 hours, 2 continents away from him, I am in awe of him. The man you will some day call your Dada is a man of deep, pervasive, abundant:

integrity. 

He is man who left an entire life -- security, money, praise, comfort. He gave it all up for us. For me and in that, for you. He gave it all up for a prolonged season of anonymity.

From a string of no's, a struggling business, to being thrust into a whole new culture, a whole new church, a whole new way of functioning, a whole new professional career, your father is a:

survivor. 

He is both firm and kind, relaxed and focused, deep and easygoing. He is both extroverted and introverted, a great listener, but also a great speaker. He is:

all things to all people. 

There is not one person I have met that doesn't deeply respect or admire your father.

He is man who runs hard after what is right, even when it hurts, even when it's inconvenient, even if it means giving up security, comfort, freedom. He is a man of:

faith. 

Today, as I sit here missing him, he is on his way to Africa to launch his first of many libraries. A vision he had for many years coming to fruition. A dream being made to reality. He is a man of:

vision.

Even as he left, he had to decide between trusting God and going to Kenya or choosing to stay behind to focus on a life-changing event in his career. He chose the much harder thing. The thing that on the outside seems less, but on the very inside, has deep spiritual significance. He chose to dive head first into the mystery of God's presence, instead of the security of the world. He is a man of immense:

loyalty.

N., you are so deeply lucky to be fathered by this man. A man of incredible significance and worth. A man of grit.

Even as I write this, I am struck by his decision to go to Kenya without fully knowing its purpose and without fully knowing if it will end up hurting his career. He took a huge leap of faith and as his wife, I reluctantly leapt with him. We don't know how it's going to turn out, but we do know that God honors faith, God honors obedience, God honors stepping out and God honors a pure spirit. Your father is a man of:

courage. 

N., my prayer for you is that you will learn each and every day from your father. Learn his ways, soak up his sincerity. Learn his servant heart. Allow him to discipline you with his firm and consistent love. I pray you will grow up and embody your father's deeply beautiful and compassionate heart. I pray you will see the goodness of God through your father's loving smile, his hefty laugh, his intent silences, and great love for food. May you grow up to be a man of great service to others, just as your father.

What a privilege to consider that by God's grace, my life will soon shift, expand, radiate out to include two men of deep, deep, deep:

impact. 

N., I love your father more than words can express. He makes everything he interacts with better. Most especially, me. He sharpens my words, trains my heart to love more deeply, reminds me of who I am and who God is. Without him, I couldn't be your mother both literally and in every other way. His deep love for me has released a spirit of motherhood I never knew existed within me.

So one day, as I gaze into your eyes N., I will only be filled with immense gratitude--for within you, in your very DNA, holds the best man I ever known and will ever know:

your father.