A Father’s Day Love Letter to My Husband
I wanted to write a Father’s Day love letter to my husband.
Because I think we have devalued fatherhood in our country. We’ve taken what it means to be a man and characterized it as toxic instead of celebrating the types of righteous masculinity that God designed for men.
And God designed the family to have both male and female parents for a reason. We need to be doing more to celebrate the different roles we have and the beautiful way God created them to complement each other.
I want to celebrate my husband as a father for the best parts of who he is.
And he definitely doesn’t hear it enough. The day to day just keeping the house running, the bills paid, the meals made often gets the most of our time.
As a result, I often forget to tell him how much I love, respect, and appreciate him. And that is my fault. I need to spend more time telling him, but this short letter is one way to remember that being her dad is exactly who he is supposed to be, doing things his way even (maybe especially) when that way is different from mine.
Dear Husband,
I don’t always remember to tell you just how much I appreciate the father you are, especially to our daughter.
Father’s Day is always challenging because you hate being celebrated. But the expectations for dads have never been higher, and you often feel like you’re not measuring up. I want you to know that you’re undeservedly hard on yourself sometimes.
So today, I want to tell you all the ways you are getting it right with our sweet little girl.
She was both the child you were most prepared for and least ready for.
You knew the ins and outs of babies, but you weren’t prepared for the intense little girlness of her, for the effortless way she would wrap you around her pinky and be so totally different from your boys, full of ribbons and bows and imagination and drama!
In this Father’s Day love letter, I want to say I see the good job you’re doing.
I love watching her with you, the way she races to your arms the second you pull in the driveway, the way everything is better because daddy is home.
My heart melts when I hear you call her baby.
I love watching your gentleness with her, the way you play dress up with her or let her style your hair. Watching you read to her makes my heart full. I love hearing the inside jokes you share only with her. She has softened you in beautiful ways.
Expectations for Dad have never been higher. Love him. Tell your husband what he's doing right this Father's Day. #FathersMatter Click To Tweet
Keep being her dad.
Keep taking her fishing, teaching her to cast and reel and bait her own hooks. Take her to fly kites and pick berries.
Walk with her through the woods, teach her which plants are safe, which broken branches show deer signs.
From you, she learns to honor nature and respect the animals we eat.
Teach her to love adventures and to forget about her hair. Let her get muddy on your watch.
Teach her to love adventures and forget about her hair. Let her get muddy on your watch. Click To TweetKeep wrestling and tickling. You’re teaching her so much more than to laugh. Loving play is teaching her that good men can be trusted. And you are teaching her to set boundaries with her body and to defend herself.
Do you remember how special it was to watch TV with your dad, just the two of you? She already so enjoys curling up next to you and watching hunting shows together. You’re building loving memories and creating exciting future plans in her imagination.
Keep flying her around the house as long as you can. You’ve taught her to feel safe in your strength.
And our crazy, dreamer girl will always remember you made her first impossible dream to fly come ‘true.’
You deserve a great Father’s Day!
Keep teaching her all the things you do. From you, she learns animals and biology better than any high school lab. She learns to try every new food at least once, even spicy octopus. 😜 You teach her to be brave when life is scary and tough when it’s hard.
She watches you decide to learn something and do it, going from novice to expert in front of her eyes.
From you, she learns that work is how we have our nice home and good food. She has seen you work hard as a soldier, then at your job, and always at home. She will learn to work hard and expect that from others.
Dad's teach daughters so much, including how to be loved. Keep loving her unconditionally! Click To TweetKeep loving her unconditionally. Because someday, too soon, she will equate how you loved her with how a man should love her. Keep building a great foundation with whisker kisses on her cheeks and bear hugs.
She believes you are a superhero. She is right.
Love always,
Your Grateful Wife
I hope my letter inspires you to write your own Father’s Day Love Letter to your husband! Let him know you see him today.
22 Comments
Marie
Where can I find the prayer printable for praying for your children?
Jennifer
I’m not sure which prayer printable you mean. Here are some posts about praying for your children. https://heavennotharvard.com/how-to-better-pray-for-your-children/ https://heavennotharvard.com/pray-ceaselessly/
Mistie
A very beautiful post. Such a great way to honor him.
Jennifer
Thank you!
Andrea
A very heartwarming post 🙂
Emily
“She believes you are a superhero. She is right.” This post warms my heart. You are both doing an amazing job as parents and as a couple. Thanks for sharing your story. Happy Belated Father’s Day!
Jennifer
Aw, thank you! We are definitely a work in progress but we’re making progress so it’s all good
Tara
This is such a sweet tribute. I clicked to tweet your quote about letting them get muddy. It’s awesome!
Jennifer
Aw, thanks! Sometimes we forget little girls need muddy days too. She is tidy and cute most days; it’s good for her to have messy days too.
Faith
What precious words. I’m so thankful for a dad who is truly a hero in my eyes.
Jennifer
It is truly wealth to have such a father.
Matilda Dennis Quaicoe
Beautiful post, our men are trying very hard these days and deserve to be recognized too.
Jennifer
They have lots of expectations their fathers didn’t have. Work all day and be hands on with the kids, be gentle and not tired or impatient. It’s hard after 15 hours at work and I know how hard he is trying to be all things to us!
Stephanie
This is a beautiful way to honor him! Great post and pictures!!
Pamela Kuhn
Simply beautiful. I think many fathers wonder if they are getting it right. They need our affirmation — and you did such a good job of that!
Jennifer
Thank you. I could see how it warmed his heart to hear it all when I shared it with him.
Csilla Muscan
Beautiful!!
Mihaela Echols
Wow I love this! I think its awesome that you encourage him in this writing. What a cute picture of them too.
Caroline
What a sweet post. He sounds like such a wonderful man. I love the pictures too!
Jennifer
He has so many wonderful qualities that fatherhood has helped bring out.
Kay
This is such a sweet post. Happy Father’s Day to him!
Jennifer
Thanks!