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Dear Future Son-in-Law: The First Man To Love Your Bride Has Set the Bar So High

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By Elizabeth Spencer

Man making bed — Image via Elizabeth Spencer

Dear future son-in-law,

First of all, I want you to know I already love the hope of you. I’m already ready to be so thankful for you. I have been praying for you for a long time.

I am a mom of daughters. I love my girls more than life itself, and with “only” them, there is absolutely nothing lacking in our family. But if God sees fit to bless one of them with you, we will be only too happy to have you take a seat at our table.

RELATED: God Gave Me Daughters

If you become my son-in-law, I already know you will be wonderful, because neither of my daughters will settle for less. This is NOT because they are snooty or think themselves perfect. It is because wonderful is what they are used to. It is their standard and their norm.

If one of my daughters has given her heart to you, it will be because her heart recognizes you.

“Yes,” it will tell her, “I’ve seen this kind before. You’ve called him Dad.”

I’m sure you are up to the leap of loving my daughter for the rest of her life, but the bar has been set high. Your future father-in-law has loved all his ladies, including your bride, so well.

He has given up the biggest room in the house—the one with the big-screen TV he got as a gift for his 50th birthday—more times than I can count so his dancers could use that room as a studio.

RELATED: Here’s To the Good Dads

He has made our bed on Sunday mornings when I was running behind, not because he cares if it’s made, but because he knows it drives me crazy if it isn’t.

In the cold of winter, he’s brought my Sunday church dress that he saw hanging in an unheated closet out into the warm bedroom to be ready for me.

He’s stopped by a closed bedroom door at the top of the stairs every morning on his way to get ready for work to tell his teenage daughter he loves her and is praying for her and to have a good day.

When your bride was little, he played endless rounds of “Princess Memory” with her even though no one can keep all those girls straight.

He’s told your bride over and over he’s proud of her and that she’s beautiful and that he’s so thankful to be her dad.

I do not mean all this as a warning or to scare you off. As I said, we are already looking forward to loving you.

And really, this is such good news for you, because those who are loved well usually love others well, and your bride has been loved very, very well by the man who loved her first.

RELATED: It’s Never Too Soon To Being Praying For the One Your Child Will Marry

So aim this high, my maybe-someday-son-in-law, and if you even come close to clearing this bar, it will be another win for love.

With hope for what might be,
Your maybe-someday-mother-in-law

Originally published on Guilty Chocoholic Mama

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a good dad Dad daddy dear son father girl mom her dad loved her first marriage my daughter raising girls son-in-law spouse

Elizabeth Spencer

Elizabeth Spencer is mom to two daughters (one teen and one young adult) who regularly dispense love, affection, and brutally honest fashion advice. She writes about faith, food, and family (with some occasional funny thrown in) at Guilty Chocoholic Mama and avoids working on her 100-year-old farmhouse by spending time on Facebook and Twitter.

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RELATED: God Gave Me Daughters

If one of my daughters has given her heart to you, it will be because her heart recognizes you.

RELATED: Here’s To the Good Dads

He’s told your bride over and over he’s proud of her and that she’s beautiful and that he’s so thankful to be her dad.

RELATED: It’s Never Too Soon To Being Praying For the One Your Child Will Marry

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Elizabeth Spencer

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I’m Watching Him Become the Man I Prayed He’d Be

This Bridge to Empty Nesting is So Bittersweet

I’m Falling Into the Goodbye Hole

To My Grown Kids, These Are My Promises to You

I Waited My Whole Childhood for a Dad

Dear Senior Mamas, That Smile Is Worth It All

Get It Now

So God Made a Mother

Dear Future Son-in-Law: The First Man To Love Your Bride Has Set the Bar So High

If one of my daughters has given her heart to you, it will be because her heart recognizes you.

He’s told your bride over and over he’s proud of her and that she’s beautiful and that he’s so thankful to be her dad.

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Soon There Will Be No More Breakfasts To Make

I’m Learning To Let Go of What Was To Embrace What Is

Dear New College Parents: It Gets Easier

I Want His College Experience to Be His Own

I’m Watching Him Become the Man I Prayed He’d Be

This Bridge to Empty Nesting is So Bittersweet

I’m Falling Into the Goodbye Hole

To My Grown Kids, These Are My Promises to You

I Waited My Whole Childhood for a Dad

Dear Senior Mamas, That Smile Is Worth It All

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