What it Means to Have a Father

I am back from the Vision Forum Father and Daughter Retreat! It was a wonderful weekend, and I wanted to share with everyone a little bit of what I heard over the next few days.

I'd like to start by sharing with you some notes from one of Mr. Doug Phillips' messages, What it Means to Have a Father: The Glory and Privilege of Daughterhood.

The first thing he said that was very thought-provoking was that, "If you do not know what it means to be a daughter, or do not embrace your earthly father, you will not embrace your Heavenly Father." He went on, "Your father is a gift from God, and the way you react to Him is the true test of daughterhood." Unfortunately, I don't always react (or interact) very well with my Daddy.

Mr. Phillips listed 10 things you have when you have a father. They were:

-A Model to Point you to God.
Mr. Phillips pointed out that "the way you look at your father is the way you look at God. Daughters who do not have a father do not know how to relate to God."

-A Provider to Give to You.

-A Protector to Care for You.

-A Priest to Disciple You.

-An Intercessor for your soul.

-An Example of Manhood. He said, "Girls today are looking in all the wrong places for love. They are very confused."

-An Instructor to Teach You. This one was very convicting! He said, "If you do not listen to Your father's instruction, you despise your Heavenly Father."

-A Comforter to Show you Proper Affections.

-A Friend to Rejoice with You.

-A Shepherd to Lead You.

He spoke on the importance of Fathers, and even on what God says about fathers, for instance, in 2 Corinthians 6:18, "I will be a Father to You, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." Mr. Phillips pointed out that "the Father-Daughter Relationship is so vitally important, even multi-generationally, that God says when all else is crushed in life- He will be there as a Father for you."

He asked all of us young ladies- "Do you realize how blessed you are to have a Father?" And I don't think any of us really do. Think about this:

More than 350,000 children in Haiti no longer have Fathers.

Mr. Phillips really got me thinking when he said, "Children must have Fathers! Fathers bring order and provision, so when you have no father, you have devestation... Be a daughter. And be thankful for being a daughter."

May we all become grateful daughters, and have a blessed day!