Looking for a Father’s Day gift?
Alan Smyth & Kristy Fox, Young Life Regional Directors
in California, have recently published a new book for dads of daughters. You
can order it here and read more from Alan below. You can also win one of three
copies, instructions at the bottom of this post.
Friends,
We’ve reached a milestone in the life of this “little
project.” It started nearly 25 years ago when my daughter Brittany was born. As
I stumbled around hoping to be a great Dad for my daughter, I learned a few
things through “on the job training.” Then, my entire adult life working for
Young Life has given me a front row seat into the lives of adolescents and
their struggles.
Long story short, I felt compelled to record my thoughts and
experiences of being a dad to my daughter. I felt led to record them all into
one place and make them available to whoever might be interested. Further, I
felt that getting input from dozens of other Dads, daughters and Young Life
leaders would provide a unique collection of content.
Never really knowing where this was all going, I am happy to
announce that the project which I spearheaded and collaborated with many others
has been turned into a book. And that book is available for consumption
starting right now! Let this blog post signify the release of a book I have entitled
“Prized Possession.” You will have to read chapter two in order to understand
where this title came from.
Kristy Fox (RD of the Southcoast Region) is a huge part of
this project and her female perspective has been an invaluable component to the
conversation. My voice is strong as a Dad who raised a daughter. However, her
voice is strong from a woman’s perspective and has provided a strong influence.
She is someone who has been intimately involved in the lives of adolescent
girls for over 20 years. Kristy has contributed an important chapter in this
book as she speaks about what girls are battling every day. She has also been a
sounding board for the rest of the chapters as I compiled them. My own
daughter, Brittany, has also contributed a chapter from her perspective.
Additionally there are dozens of veteran dads (many on the
YL staff) who have shared their insights on what they did and how they
approached raising their daughters. Maybe the best part of the book though, is
a chapter written by a compilation of testimonies from post teenage girls who
turned out great. I asked them “what did your dad do?” “What impacted you?” You
will hear from awesome women what their dad did well. You will want to steal
what you hear them say.
The point was to gather important voices and share important
insights on a very important topic. My hope is that this book becomes a
resource for dads who are looking for a little encouragement and practical help
for the sake of a healthy daughter who gets what she deserves. It is irrelevant
whether 1 or a 1 million people read this book. I am just doing what I believe
I was asked to do by pulling it all together.
My experience as a dad, but more importantly as a Young Life
leader for 30 years tells me this conversation is critical. If you believe this topic is as important as
I do, then I would ask you to “share” it on Facebook, “tweet” it and ask people
you know to check it out on our website. I want a lot of dads to participate in
this conversation because I believe there is some great stuff on the pages
which will make a difference in the lives of little girls.
May God bless you in your parenting and may God use the
words recorded in this book to empower dads and bless the little girls they
love.
Bless you,
Alan Smyth
You can purchase the book at www.myfatherdaughter.com.
From that site, you can also subscribe to a parenting blog
written by three different “YL” people from three different perspectives.
FREE BOOK CONTEST
Tweet/Instagram out a picture you have of you and your
daughter (or you and your dad). Think funny, creative, meaningful, cute, sweet, fun or whatever. Tag
@2cor618 & @YoungLifeLeader in the tweet so Alan can retweet and
post it on his Father/daughter facebook page. He and Kristy will determine the
winners and send out 3 FREE books to 3 different winners.
Another Helpful Parenting Book
Check out ‘Life In Our Shoes’ by Curtis Chesney, a book for YL staff parents written by YL staff kids.
