My heart is deeply stirred tonight as I look over our family portraits taken recently in Colonial Williamsburg. It is my utmost desire to be a faithful husband to my beautiful bride and a loving father to my precious daughters.
Aneta is my bride of radiating beauty and boundless laughter that soothes the aching heart—her contagious joy is like a key to help others discover the hidden vaults of joy that remain dormant within their soul. This, of course, is a gift from God. It gives permission to others to laugh again from a deep place of refreshing—or perhaps for the very first time. It is a gift very few possess.
I will say this unequivocally: I am fiercely committed to you my love. Christ, our Bridegroom, sets the example as one faithful unto the end, at all cost.
My eldest—whose birthday we just celebrated—is like her daddy in regards to her serious demeanor. She’s intense because she feels things deeply. But she possesses a quiet brilliance that I believe will serve her well in the years to come. When she sets her mind to something, she picks it up quickly. She has tremendous creativity and artistic gifting.
I see the Spirit of God breathing afresh upon her life, anointing her mightily for her calling unto Him.
With brilliance and creativity that reflects the beauty of God, she will capture the mind and heart of a generation. She will understand how to decipher the makeup of dust; and she’ll understand how to utilize such things to create beauty from the dust of the ground so that Father God declares over it, “It is very good.”
My youngest is a dancing flower emanating a sweet aroma to all within arm’s reach. But don’t let her charm fool you as she also possesses a keen intellect (like all the women in the family!). Concerning the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11, it’s written that “the world was not worthy of them” (Heb. 11:38). I say this day concerning Eliana, the world will not be able to contain all the joy that will come forth from her life—her smile, her pure affections, her words and her stories. The Lord will use her to touch many lives through the “inexpressible joy” (I Peter 1:8) that’s only found in Christ and that goes on to influence others for eternity.
Her life will cut through the veneer of religiosity to expose the bankruptcy of the human heart, in order to unveil the “sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). Her life will render the influential and nominal, the rich and poor, the high and lowly, hungering for Christ. Her life and words will touch the primal longings of the human heart to know Christ. Much will be given to her—and much expected. But she will dance along in the grace of God like a delightful child splashing in puddles on a rainy day—and others will join her in the joyful quest.
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