Battle For Our Daughters

On September 15-17th, the Broken Pieces ministry will be at a Father/Daughter Retreat in Oklahoma. This is a topic that is very dear to my heart especially since I have two daughters - 19 and 16. They are two beautiful young ladies that have much potential to impact the world in a positive way for the cause of Christ. If you are a father of a girl, you know the fear and anxiety that goes into raising girls in the culture we find ourselves in. And if they are teenage daughters you know and understand the dangers that are lurking around every corner ready to snag them on a road of destruction.

The enemy is roaming like a roaring lion and looking for those he can devour (I Peter 5:8). Almost everywhere you turn you see an all out attack on our girls. The entertainment world has put such unrealistic expectations on them. There is a pressure like none other that we as dads better wake up to seeing before it is to late and we lose them. The pressure to look a certain way by what is worn or by what the body looks like. The pressure to perform whether by grades, sports, music, etc. The need to be accepted and loved. The lie that sex or sexual favors buys love. The lie that Girls Gone Wild is the way to be noticed and desired and is acceptable behavior. The list can go on and on with what we face today.

What can we do as fathers of such great gifts and treasures (our daughters) from the Lord? Is there hope for our girls to survive and not only survive but thrive? Is there hope for them to be godly ladies in such a godless world? The Bible says in I Corinthians 16:13 that we need to be men that are on guard, standing firm in the faith, courageous, and strong. We must be willing to fight for our children. We must be on guard to what the enemy intends for evil. We must be strong and courageous enough to stand for right and to stand for our convictions. We must be willing to stand firm for the things of God. When my wife and I discovered that our oldest daughter was struggling with bulimia - it was possibly the darkest hour in our lives. I was faced with a decision - turn and ignore it and hope it went away or to confront it head on and fight for my daughter. I chose the latter and I am pleased to say that she has fully recovered. Men - fight for your daughters. They are worth every bit of energy, time, and sacrifice.

I would love to hear from you dads or moms regarding this subject. What are your experiences? What are your successes and failures? Let's learn together.

Please be praying for me as I invest in other dads this weekend. Please visit my website - www.brokenpieces.faithweb.com for more information to have Broken Pieces come to your church or organization.