So a preacher walks into a mall with a blonde and a brunette…

Jessica and MalloryMost of you know that my wife Cindy and I have no children of our own. I have no regrets about that because I think it’s important to live the life God gives you and to live it faithfully, and we have many wonderful blessings for which to be grateful – my greatest blessing being her. But occasionally I get to look through the window at what might have been…

This past Saturday, for reasons you can read about in an earlier post, I found it necessary to go to a mall in Chattanooga with Mallory and Jessica, the college students who have been working at MHCC this summer. Both of them are twenty-year-old college juniors, Jessica at Wheaton College near Chicago, and Mallory at Vanguard University in Southern California. Now most of my friends my age (42) have children who are in early high school and younger. But it wouldn’t be unusual at my age to have a twenty-year-old child. My parents did when they were 42.

This little road trip opened me to a new world, one which is commonplace for many of you. I pray that you don’t take it for granted. First, the drive itself – I listened to their music (Coldplay, Pedro the Lion, Ben Folds) and I made them listen to some of mine (I had to pronounce the name “John Mellencamp” a couple of times before they said it sounded familiar). Then when we walked into the mall, I suddenly realized that I hadn’t been in a mall for maybe three years. Not exactly my kind of place, you know. But more than that, watching these two young women shop and make wise and mature buying choices was fascinating to me and made me proud on behalf of their parents.

What an awesome responsibility and privilege to raise daughters these days! The best parents teach their girls to be strong, independent, and smart, to respect themselves because they are beloved daughters of God and to expect nothing less than respect from others. Most of you have seen these two young women at church and you know that they are both beautiful. But what I have seen over these last seven weeks (and what I pray their parents see) is that each is, in her own way, wise, confident, steel-strong, excellent in leadership, compassionate and gracious.

Here’s my advice to those of you who are working hard to teach your daughters the same qualities, and feeling the pressure, the strain, and maybe even the heartache of raising your girls: Don’t miss it for anything.

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July 25, 2006 · Filed Under Friends, Life

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