We just celebrated my daughter’s 10th birthday this past Monday. For the past few weeks, she has been on my mind a lot – our past moments together, and what the future holds for us. I find more and more that thinking about her gives me energy, determination, drive, and feels me both with a sense of duty and of love that I have never received in another capacity. At the time I found out I was going to have a child, I had the complete opposite reaction as my wife: I was excited, joyous, anxious, and looked forward to what it would be like to have a child, and to be a father. To hold my first child in my arms…would my baby be a boy? Or a girl? I wanted a girl very much – I have always wanted to walk in the door and to hear a precious, little girl voice call to me, “Daddy!” I wanted a girl with blue eyes like me, and red hair like mommy. I already had a name picked out for her, unlike any other name. Sadly, I was alone in my excitement to receive such a blessing.<\/p>\n
Perhaps this is the reason why God blessed me with such a beautiful bundle. I received the little girl that I wanted: blue eyes, red hair, great sense of humor, smart, and silly just like daddy! To top it off, daddy comes first in her book – she is so much like me it still shocks me sometimes, even though she is so unique. She even carries the name that I had created for her, long before I was ever even seriously dating.<\/p>\n
I am so very thankful for children, and especially, my daughter. They are a tremendous blessing, and they bring such joy into our lives. I take pride in the fact that I am trying to instill in my daughter an open mind and loving spirit, that is open to peoples of all cultures and places. I can already see in her that she will surpass even that which I dream to become myself. My precious punkin indeed makes me want to do better, work harder, attain a higher level of success, and be more for her, and for the people of this world. <\/p>\n
May God bless the children of the world, and take care of their needs. <\/p>\n
-Brandon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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