Dear Daughter: I Pray You Marry Someone Who Loves You the Way Your Daddy Loves Us

My little girl,

You are too young to understand this now, but one day years from now you may find yourself looking for a man to marry.

And from now until that day comes I will pray to God above you’ll find someone who loves you the way your daddy loves me and who will love your children the way your daddy loves his.

I don’t mean it has to “look” the same, but what I do mean is that I hope you get to feel the way I do being married to your dad.

For me—it’s not about how many times he tells me I am beautiful or even how often he says the words “I love you.”

It’s not about presents on special occasions or surprises on random evenings.

It’s not about the money he makes, the places he takes us, or the picture he paints for our future together.

What it is about—what our love is all about—is the little bits of energy woven into the simple, ordinary moments of each and every day that we live through together.

It is his steady hand when my soul is anything but.

It is his smile from across a crowded room when he knows we are thinking the same thing.

It is the way he forgives, the way he listens, and the way he shows up for us again and again.

It is the way he tries every single day to find the most meaningful ways to connect with you.

It is the way his patience and humility can surpass even mine when we are being tested as parents.

It is the way he works hard to understand and uplift each of his children.

It is the way he always comes home to be with us, to spend quality time with us, to love us the best way he knows how.

For me, it’s not about anything fancy or flashy or over-the-top.

For me, it’s about how he makes me feel during the regular, every day routines of our lives.

My little girl, your daddy makes us feel loved not because of anything grandiose that he does, but because of all the little things he does time and time again.

And so, one day years from now you may find yourself looking for a man to marry.

And from now until that day comes I will pray to God above you’ll find someone who loves you the way your daddy loves me and who will love your children the way your daddy loves his.