Advice To My Son-In-Law

My son-in-law, Tim Williamson, is an amazing guy.  He is a great husband to our daughter and an awesome father to our grandsons.  Most importantly to Anita and me is the fact that Tim loves the Lord and gives spiritual leadership to his family!  He also is one of those self-sacrificing young men who serves in the U.S. Navy submarine service.  As a naval officer, he spends many hours away from all of us, defending our nation from those who would wish us harm and for that we are truly grateful.

However, Tim is about to enter the realms of Barbie dolls, tea parties and princesses!  In September, he will meet the newest addition to the family, a precious baby girl.  As a father who went through the same thing almost 32 years ago, I thought I might offer him some thoughts about what to expect.

First, be prepared to never own your heart again!  From the time you meet this little girl and she curls her tiny hand around your finger, through her first day at school, to her leaving home for college, all the way through walking her down the aisle at her wedding, she will carry your heart around with her.  She will be the only person in the world, besides your wife (my daughter...who still walks around with her daddy's heart) who can melt you with a smile, a look or a tear!  Furthermore, you will love every minute of it!

Second, remember to make as many memories with this little girl as you can.  Memories as simple as reading a bedtime story or taking her to get a snow cone or listening to her talk to her dolls, when she doesn't know you are there!  Remember how she looks when she plays dress-up.  Listen to her little girl giggles that sound like the music from the greatest symphony in the world.  Mostly, remember and cherish those times when she climbs into your lap or comes into a room just to give you a hug!

Third, make sure she knows how much you love her and that you will love her, no matter what.  She will need to understand that the love you have for her, no matter how great, is only a fraction of the love her Heavenly Father has for her.  Remember, that you will always be the first man in her life!

Finally (and this is the hard one!), remember that your job as her father is one of planned obsolescence!  You will begin working yourself out of a job, the day she is born!  I can tell you that every milestone she reaches, will be a bittersweet one to you.  When you see her take those first steps, when she walks from your car to the front door at kindergarten, when you drive away from her college dorm and when you walk her down that church aisle you will remember every moment you spent with her and be better for it.  I can tell you from experience, you will be proud of her, but you will also feel like you are losing a small part of her.  That's why I hope you make lots of special memories, because you will always have those!  It seems like only last month that we brought your wife and my little girl home from the hospital, and then, last week she went off to school and this week she has a family of her own, with you!  It has been a joy to watch her grow, but it sure seems like it went by too quickly!  That's the way time works, as the poet said, "Time waits for no man!"  However, our Father tells us to make the most of our time and to redeem those moments and memories and that is what I pray for you, Tim!

There is one more piece of advice I would offer...make sure you meet her first date, at the front door, with the shotgun you just happen to be cleaning!  I love you and can't wait to meet your daughter!