I’m a man of many hats but only two are truly important. First, I’m a born again believer and follower of Jesus Christ. Out of everything else in my life, this is most important. Second, I’m a daddy. My definition of a daddy doesn’t stop at taking the “World’s Greatest Dad” title seriously. For me, being a great daddy includes being a great husband. Now my life is not a fairy tale and being a Christ-centered, awesome dad, and amazing husband doesn’t always work out the way I wished (just ask my wife:). But being a Christ-centered daddy is how I want to teach my little girl the meaning of love. I want her to see the meaning of love by the way her daddy loves the Lord, the way I love her mommy, and the way I love her!  Love without boundaries. Love without exceptions. Love without end.

To be honest, keeping my relationship with Jesus Christ first is sometimes a challenge.  I love my little girl so much that I sometimes catch myself sitting in awe as I watch her play. I sometimes look at my wife and say “I love our little girl so much,”.  My wife knows that’s code for “I can’t believe I can love her this much,”. It is amazing that love at this level is even possible. So, I have to take a step back and look at my relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus loves me at a level even deeper than I love my little girl. But do I love him…like I love my daughter?  Do I catch myself in awe of Jesus Christ?  Do I have a love for Jesus that is hard for me to comprehend is possible?  You see, being madly in love with my little girl for some reason comes easy. But am I this crazy in love with Jesus?  This is the challenge for me. I am madly in love with Christ but does it show to the world like they can see my love for my daughter?  When I play with my daughter and she’s laughing and having fun, I don’t care how silly I look to the world. Do I care about what the world thinks of me when I’m serving Jesus Christ?  When I’ve had a tough day but it all disappears when I hold my little girl.  Does my relationship with Jesus have that same affect?  This is a challenge and I want my life to show “Christ first, Daddy second”, so my prayer today is…

Father God, Thank you for loving me without boundaries, without exceptions, without end.  Thank you for blessing me with an amazing wife and beautiful little girl.  I want to be that light placed upon a hill.  I want the world to see my love for you as easy as it is to see my love for my family.  Please help me to be as crazy about you as I am for my daughter.  Give me the strength,determination, and desire to live out theses words: Christ First, Daddy Second.  Amen