Just when you think you have everything about figured out, you find out that you are about to be a Daddy.  Your ability to love gets raised to the “nth” degree.  It feels exponential and it’s a strength of love that you didn’t realize existed until then.  No words can describe it but all of a sudden you begin to realize the sacrifices your parents made for you and it’s humbling and awesome at the same time.

I feel blessed to have been given two boys.  There are so many things that I’m going to share with them as they grow.  Some awesome things… and some bad things.  I’ll have the desire many times to take their hurts away from sickness, bruises, broken bones, and knee scrapes.  I’ll want to take away their sadness from feeling alone in a new school, not being the popular kid, or a broken heart from a girlfriend.  In order to give them wings to fly, I’ll have to let them go through it just as I did.  I just have to make sure they know they’re not doing it alone.  Daddy is here always.

Artist: Tracy Lawrence
CD: For the Love
Genre: Country
Label: Rocky Comfort

Til I Was A Daddy Too by Tracy Lawrence

Do you recall when I was six
I got lost out in the woods and you worried yourself sick
What about the day I got in my first fight
Mama she got mad but you swelled up with pride
I never knew how deep a fathers love could run
Until I had a son

{Chorus}
From watching him learn how to crawl
To skinned up knees from skateboard falls
To praying he’d get through football alive
From hearing his first words spoken
The first time his heart got broken
And knowing soon he’ll spread his wings and fly
I guess I didn’t know what a Daddy goes thru
Til I was a Daddy too

Real love the kind that you can’t understand
Until you hold it in your arms and touch it with your hands
Pure joy the kind that you can only find
When you live your life for them
And leave yourself behind
More and more I’m seeing life go by
Thru my Daddy’s eyes

{Chorus}

The fast pace of time goes racing
From first grade to graduation
And knowing soon he’ll spread his wings and fly
I guess I didn’t know what a Daddy goes through
Til I was a Daddy too

I guess I didn’t know what a Daddy goes through
Til I was a Daddy too

I guess there’s just something having a child that changes the way you think – and maybe it’s even different for father/daughters – I don’t know. It’s easy to look at her right now and think about all the time we’ll have together over the coming years, but then when you hear a song like this it makes you think about how the time with her will be over all too soon. It’s true what they say – they grow up so fast.

This is one of the few songs that actually makes me feel emotional when I stop and think about it. It’s a great song and the interview with Steven Curtis Chapman after the video is a great insight into how he came to write the song – and a good look into someone who sounds like a great daddy.
 

Artist: Steven Curtis Chapman
CD: This Moment (Cinderella Edition)
Genre: Contemporary Christian
Label: Sparrow Records

Cinderella by Steven Curtis Chapman

She spins and she sways to whatever song plays,
Without a care in the world.
And I’m sittin’ here wearin’ the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It’s been a long day and there’s still work to do,
She’s pulling at me saying “Dad I need you!
There’s a ball at the castle and I’ve been invited and I need to practice my dancin’”
“Oh please, daddy, please!”
 
So I’ll dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I’ll dance with Cinderella
I don’t wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone
 
She says he’s a nice guy and I’d be impressed
She wants to know if I approve of the dress
She says “Dad, the prom is just one week away,
And I need to practice my dancin’”
“Oh please, daddy, please!”
 
So I’ll dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I’ll dance with Cinderella
I don’t wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone
She will be gone.
 
Well, she came home today
With a ring on her hand
Just glowin’ and tellin’ us all they had planned
She says “Dad, the wedding’s still six months away
but I need to practice my dancin’”
“Oh please, daddy please!”
 
So I’ll dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
‘Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I’ll dance with Cinderella
I don’t wanna miss even one song,
(even one song)
Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight
And she’ll be gone