I experienced the most interesting thing Monday morning when I dropped my daughter off at school, and truth be told, it made me proud for dads everywhere.  It was the quintessential moment of dads instilling life lessons in their daughters at an early age.  As usual, when we arrived at school, Riley and I said a quick morning prayer and then I reminded her that like Esther, she is a leader among her peers.  God has a purpose for her today, so make sure she’s focused on doing what it takes to be a leader.  After hugging her and walking towards the door, I noticed another father (another black dad) with his daughter walking ahead of us. Wouldn’t you know it, this dad was giving his daughter their own mantra.  Instead of leadership, he reminded her about what it means to be great.  I overheard him saying how her purpose for today was to display the greatness that already exists inside of her.  We both greeted each other as we walked our girls into the classroom, and wouldn’t you know it, we ran into another dad (a Latino father) who was finishing up giving his own daughter a similar speech.  (Side note: it must have been daddy drop off day or something!)

All this to say, that what was most encouraging about that morning was seeing other fathers do what I know we are well positioned to do: instill in our children, particularly our daughters important values of leadership, confidence, and purpose.