Another Open Letter To Men

Andy Stanley said many more awesome things at Catalyst, but one jumped out at me.  He said, "Dads, don't let your wonder shut down in you. If you do, it will shut down in your kids and what God has planned for your kids."


That pulled at my heart so much.

There are parents who gave up dreams and careers in order to be parents. We decided the child was more important, and that's a good thing. BUT, we allowed our imaginations, our creativity, some of our goals and maybe all of our dreams to come to a halt.

This has and is hurting the children in our lives.

After Andy's talk, I talked to my son who was at the conference with me. He will be 18 in a few weeks. The weight of this statement rang true for me. Not so much in that I might have caused his wonder to go away, but that as a mom, I don't feel like I have the power his dad has.

Hear me out... In the Bible, Dads and men spoke blessings over people, especially their children.

I told my son, that kids usually know their mom loves them unconditionally. This is not true for everyone...  moms are the nurturing loving ones. Dads are the ones who make kids feel important.

Men, your words are very powerful, whether you realize it or not. You have the power to build self esteem or tear it down. You have the power to bless or curse. You have the power to create and cultivate wonder in a child, or let that die in them.

I hear you, "I'm not a dad." Or, "I'm a dad but I don't see my children often." Or, "How do I get my wonder back? I lost it."

That's ok!! PRAY! Ask God to help you with this. If you aren't a dad, ask God to place a child in your life that you can create and cultivate wonder in. If you don't see your children often, do what you can when they are with you. 

You make the most of what you have. I will be honest, the kids who either don't have a dad, or have one that isn't very involved, need you!!!

Will you use your power to help some children who need to feel loved, see God's wonder and be blessed?  I hope you will.