The man who always knew I was royalty
This Father’s Day, I want to recognize the man who saw me as royalty long before the crown was placed on my head.
My
dad never fails to call me his “little princess”. I recently got to see
him when I traveled to Las Vegas for my brother’s graduation, and even
now, he still calls me that! I don’t think this trend will ever stop.
Even though I am an adult and technically a “queen”, I am still a
princess in his eyes. Through many seasons of my life, I didn’t really
like that reference. Growing up, I was a total tomboy. My daily outfit
consisted of a t-shirt, athletic pants, tennis shoes and a bandana on my
head- seriously. In my first neighborhood, there were only boys to play
with, so I learned to dig in the dirt, skateboard on the sidewalk and
spend the afternoons tossing a football and racing back and forth down
the street. When I moved to a neighborhood of girls or “girly girls” as I
would call them, I always felt a little out of place when they wanted
to play with makeup, dolls and listen to Backstreet Boys. So, naturally,
when my dad would refer to me as a princess, I thought he was calling
me a girly girl, which I obviously didn’t like. As I got older, I
started to realize what that actually meant and the depth of his words
to me. My parents taught me that God was not only the King of Kings, but
he was also my heavenly Father. My dad would remind me that I was God's
child and his child at the same time. And that’s what made me
royalty, being a daughter of a King. I began to realize that being a
princess had nothing to do with the clothes I wore or the activities I
chose. It was about my position as a child of God.
When my dad calls me princess, he is reminding me that my value comes from who I am and not what I do.
My
dad loves me no matter what, that is one thing I am sure of. His love
is an example of God’s beautiful love, a love that is entirely
unconditional. So, now, when my dad calls me princess, it is a sweet
reminder that I am loved through all things, in every season of life.
And so are you.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love.” {Jer. 31:3}
Happy Father’s Day!
