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’ve been praying for you for a long time.
As 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.
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’s because wonderful is what they’re used to…it’s 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’s given up the biggest room in the house—the one with the wide-screen TV he got as a gift for his birthday—more times than I can count so his dancers could use that room as a studio.
He’s 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 don’t mean all this as a warning or to scare you off. As I said, we’re 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.
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
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