Called life. It has been super busy around our place and I only have 4 wonderful blessings...I have so many friends with more children than us, so I know we are not any busier than anyone else out there....I also know God gives extreme grace to us no matter what size our family is....still the days can get crazy sometimes and sometimes, well mostly all the time, we establish our plans and God has other plans in mind.

For example, Evie and I had the most terrible stomach bug the week before our father daughter banquet..it was the kind that lasted quite a few days(all week for me) with the threat of dehydration looming all the time. I had to make myself sip water and eat small amounts of bananas...or crackers...or breadcrumbs...and that is basically what I lived on for 3-4 days. My lips were cracked and I was really weak--which are signs of dehydration. By the end of the week last week, I was guzzling water like crazy and little by little I came back to the land of the living. Thankfully, just in time to help with the Father Daughter Banquet, which was on Saturday evening. I know God did that for me.

I think my favorite thing about actually helping with the banquet is being there and seeing how beautiful and happy all of the girls look. The younger girls are so excited to be there for the first time, which makes it extra precious. Their hair is fixed just perfectly...their dresses look like they are from a real Cinderella movie...and their faces are glowing with anticipated joy....all of this for a special evening with their fathers. That thrills my heart like nothing else.

This year was extra special for us...it was Gracie's last father daughter banquet. LAST ONE! I think we will be talking a lot about Gracie's last things in the next few months. Ah, the season's of life and the way things change over the years. It seems just like the other day when I was helping Gracie get ready for her first Father Daughter Banquet. We shopped for the perfect modest dress...had it altered to fit(because nothing fit that skinny girl)...made some first make up purchases--a soft silvery eye shadow and pink pearl lip gloss for a girl that NEVER wore makeup and never asked to. But this night was worth some extra sweetness...after all, she was getting dressed up to honor her father and let him know what he means to her.

This time, at the banquet, Gracie got up and shared publicly what her daddy means to her. As I listened to her well prepared and heart touching words of a daddy's sacrificial love, I could only pray quietly in my heart. My prayer went something like this:

Dear Holy God, Thank you, Amen. (nothing more to say)

It was a wonderful evening and one Mike and I will never forget. It wasn't the fanciest of banquets...nor was it the most original--no fabulous new ideas and very little creativity...but, I think that God is glorified when we acknowledge Him as our Mighty Perfect Holy God and see that all of our blessings in life...especially family relationships...are a gift from Him.

In a world where parents are routinely rebelled against, seen as old fashioned, ridiculed by their children, and talked down to and looked down on...it is a beautiful thing when we bow the knee to give thanks for our daddies. I pray every girl there that night did that in their hearts. I also pray that every daddy continues to cherish their little girls and sees them as the blessings that they are...because one day they will be...gone.