Meg Meeker - Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters Devotional: 52 Devotions Every Father Needs

Copyright 2016 by Meg Meeker

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Regnery Faith is a trademark of Salem Communications Holding Corporation; Regnery is a registered trademark of Salem Communications Holding Corporation

First e-book edition 2016: ISBN 978-1-62157-563-4

Originally published in hardcover, 2016

Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2011

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

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To my beloved husband Walt,

my inspiration for writing about strong fathers.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

I d like open this book with something that you might not expectan apology.

As men, many of you have been led to believe that aside from bringing home a paycheck and maybe knocking in a nail here or there, youre not much needed at home.

You might even doubt yourselfyou dont really know how to be a dad.

You might think your wife doesnt listen to you, your kids dont listen to you, so you might as well just shut up.

You might feel that you bunk at your home. You dont actually live there.

So let me say right now: Im sorry.

Im sorry because I was there when the modern Feminist movement, and the pop culture that has adopted it, derided and degraded masculinity.

Im here to help you regain what is rightfully yoursyour role as an involved father.

I know you are a good man because you picked up this book, because you want to be closer to your kids. Youre on the right track.

Let this truth sink deep into your being: you have what it takes to be a great dad to your kids.

How do I know? Because Ive talked to dads of every description: NFL football players, Joe Lunchbuckets, and high-flying executives.

Ive seen you with a temper thats out of control, a depression that has swallowed you up, an affair that has split your family apart, and drinking habits that have landed you in jail.

Ive seen you turn away from each and every one of these temptations, and draw on a God-given fatherly strength and tenacity.

Everything you need to be a great dad to your daughter is hard-wired into your soul. Its part of being a man. You just need to find it.

Believing you have failed is easy. Its easy to give up and go away.

But as you know, real men dont quit.

Yes, it takes work. A good marriage is harder than having an affair (for a while at least). But a good marriage is what you were made forand its better than any affair can be.

Being a good parent takes work. But fatherhood is the greatest adventure a man can ever have.

I hope in this book to help you along in that adventureto help you discover whats within you; how to be the great dad your daughter needs you to be.

I say this as a doctor who has spent decades listening to girls talk about their fathersand I say it as a Christian who believes that your faith is profoundly important to helping you be the best man and father you can be.

Bible scholars tell us that after the Old Testament was given to Gods people, God went silentsilent!for three hundred years. Before these centuries of silence, God told His people something incredibly profound: See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.

His last words, before the coming of His own Son, were to you fathers. Who you are, what you believe, what you say and do with your children matters. It really matters.

The glory of children is their fathers.

Proverbs 17:6, ESV

I dont know why you picked up this book. Maybe someone recommended it; or perhaps your wife or a friend gave it to you. I dont know if youre examining it in a bookstore or skimming it while riding on a commuter train.

But if you are reading these words, three things are almost certainly true:

1. You have a daughter you love.

2. You are a conscientious man with a good heart.

3. You desperately want to connect with your daughter and help her become a healthy adult.

It could be that your daughter is a teen or young adult whos struggling. Youve tried everything you can think of to help her. To date, nothing has worked. Maybe youre at your wits end.

It could be that your daughter is still a young and reasonably compliant childbut shes growing faster than bamboo in a tropical rain forest. And while you cant shield her forever from every pain of life as she rockets toward adulthood, you want to spare her unnecessary heartache.

I dont have to tell you our world is cruel to girls. Every day our daughters are exposed to ugly realities. The media assaults their worth. Peers and predators make them targets of verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse.