My Daily Pause

A father is the knight in shining armor
Who protects his children and wife
From those who would seek to harm or lure
Them into a dangerous situation or strife.

He is the shelter from the world’s cruel ways.
He is the strong tree that stands firm in the storms.
He is the ray of hope in his children’s darkest days.
He is the hand of comfort to his wife when she is forlorn.

He guides his loved ones in the way that they should know.
He seeks the best way for his family to help them through life.
He is the lighthouse on the shore that lets his dear ones know where to go.
He is the shield that protects his loved ones from life’s cruel knife.

Who has given us this great gift called a father,
This precious foundation in a world of uncertainty?
It is our God, our Heavenly Father,
Who has loved us unconditionally.

–Ruth Carter

She rose to his requirement, dropped
The playthings of her life
To take the honorable work
Of woman and of wife.

If aught she missed in her new day
Of amplitude, or awe,
Or first prospective, or the gold
In using wore away,

It lay unmentioned, as the sea
Develops pearl and weed,
But only to himself is known
The fathoms they abide.

–Emily Dickinson

Bonus: Compare to Proverbs 31:10ff