A couple years ago I began to notice that my precious oldest daughter was moving from pretty little girl to beautiful young woman. Her name is Holly and we have an agreement. I get to help her find a husband when the time comes. She doesn’t want to make the decision alone. She thinks her mother and I have experience and objectivity that will help her evaluate potential mates when opportunities arise.
One day that summer it was unusually hot so we loaded up the van and headed for the beach. We live about thirty minutes from Lake Michigan but the beach we wanted to visit was about an hour and a half away. By the time we got there we were hot and the children were irritable. There were seven of them that summer.
Arriving at the lake we parked our car under shade trees. We had to walk about a hundred and fifty yards to the beach. It was a hot, humid walk. Our parking place was high above the lake and we had to walk through trees that obscured our view of the water. At the same time the huge body of blue water burst into view, a cool, strong, steady wind hit us in the face. Both the view and the breeze were refreshing and breath-taking. We all climbed down the long steps that descended to the beach and spent the rest of the day in the clear refreshing water.
It was one of those family days that you can’t fully plan or orchestrate but by evening we knew that we were tucking a sweet memory into the scrapbook of our hearts. We ate there (sandwiches, what else) and finally and regretfully the sun began to sink lower and lower toward the strait line where the water met the sky in the west.
Little driftwood fires began to spring up along the beach as the evening turned toward nighttime. Stars began to appear. As the sun was setting I saw Holly standing with her toes at the edge of the water watching the sunset. I joined her there taking her hand in mine. “Someday, Holly when you’re married you and your husband can come to a beautiful place like this. Won’t that be romantic.” I said. “Oh, Yes” she said and smiled. “And you know what Holly,” I said; “I hope your husband and I will be best friends.” The words she said next that night on the beach are words I will treasure in my heart for years. She looked at me with her Mom’s beautiful dark brown eyes and said; “Oh, you will be good friends, Dad, You’re going to pick him.”
Last Christmas my wife and I found a special gift for Holly that would express our love for her and have a special meaning. It was a beautiful little ring with two hearts and two diamonds. It is a symbol of the covenant that we have between us.
It is sobering to realize that she is depending on me to help her make such an important decision. I think it keeps us close. She is looking to me for wisdom and I am on my knees looking to my Heavenly Father. It’s one of the things that keeps me close to Him.
