Let me preface what I am about to say by telling you that my husband is NOT a gift giver. He doesn't do it. Few times in the almost 20 years we have been together has he really done this well. I've learned to accept it and it has made our marriage much better. A month or so ago, he came home from work and began feverishly searching the internet for lock and key necklaces. It took a while but he eventually found what he wanted. Yesterday morning, before church, when the girls were sitting at the kitchen counter having breakfast, their daddy presented each of them with these pretty little boxes. I tried to stay out of the room and let them have "their moment".
Here is Kendra's telling of what happened:
You Mean the World to Me. . .
The only reason I got up as early as I did yesterday morning was because my mom woke me up saying, "We have warm blueberry muffins in the kitchen!" My sister and I stumbled out into the kitchen and sat at the island eating our muffins sleepily.
That's when my dad came up beheind us and started hugging us, and said, "I love you girls." Then he stood up and stood across from us on the other side of the island. "I love you girls a lot," he said. "Well, a little anyway," he teased. Then smiling, "No really, I love you girls a lot. And I want you to guard your...what's the word...What's that word, Julie?" When he said this, he reminded me of my Papa, who always wanted the right word. Even when he had a brain tumor and he couldn't remember any word he wanted, he always wanted his speech to be perfect, and apologized incessantly when he couldn't find the right word.
"Innocence?" Mom suggested. "Yeah that..." he said. "And also your...virtue." I could tell he was 'settling' by using the word virtue, because he couldn't find the right one. "So I got you girls something to remind you." Just then he pulled out two beautiful little jewelry boxes. The one he laid in front of me was pastel blue with a pretty little blue ribbon tied around it. My sister's was the same except it was light pink instead. We opened the boxes, and in mine was a silver necklace with a silver heart shaped charm on the end of it, which had a keyhole in the middle and pink little stones aroud the edge. Next to it was a key, which also had pink stones on it. My sister's was the same, except that it had light purple stones. "Now I want you girls to keep these necklaces," he said. "And I'm going to keep the key, and on your wedding day, I'm going to give the key to your husband." Then he put the necklaces on us himself. Now this was truly an effort for him, because as my mom describes it, it's like he 'has big toes for fingers'. =D My sister and I were awestruck...Not that we don't think our dad loves us...It's just that he has a unique love language. He shows us he loves us by giving to us, and by talking to us. He tells us he loves us as well, but just the fact that he would put so much thought and romance into something like this was amazing. I truly appreciate this gift...It is a wonderful one, because he didn't just shove some necklaces at us and have it be a gift...He showed us that he truly loved us with a gift that had more substance than material worth. I will always keep this necklace and wear it as often as possible...I will always keep this memory treasured in my heart...and if my Dad leaves this earth before Jesus comes back (and for that matter, if he leaves it before I do) I will always have that memory and the knowledge that he loves me. I hope I can give him a gift someday with as much worth as that. I love you so much, Daddy! Thank you!
PS - He eventually found the word he wanted. It was 'purity'=D
Here is what Kaitlyn had to say about the special gift:
Yesterday, Kendra and I woke up to the warm smell of blueberry muffins. We sat at the island and waited for them to come out. Daddy walked in to the kitchen, and started talking to us, and eventually he started talking to us about this. He told us that he loved us a whole lot, and that he wanted us to stay his girls, until we got married, and that he wanted our marriages to be centered around Jesus. He told us that he wanted us to keep our hearts pure, and ourselves pure. He gave us two beautiful necklaces with a heart lock charm, mine is purple. Each necklace came with a key, and Dad said that he was going to give the key to our husbands on our Wedding day. I love my Daddy so much, and it means the world to know that he cares about what we do with ourselves, and our lives. I respect, and love him sooooo much. It was all his own idea.
This post deserves a purity testimony as well. When I was younger, my Mom started talking to me about Sex, and purity, and I thought to myself, ' I can do this, I can stay pure, how hard can it be?' And I would just brush it off my shoulder. Now that I'm older the pressure of the world is closing in on me, and I finally understand how hard it really can be. A while ago, I made my decision. Until that day, until God tells me the person is right, until everything is in it's place, I will remain pure, I will keep myself pure for my God, and my future husband. And Until then, I will guard not just my body, but my heart and mind from anything that will cause me to stumble. I am not ashamed of my decision.
I Thank Jesus, My Parents, Mrs. Tina F, and Kendra for helping me with my decision.
I had to snag these from their MySpaces and copy them here so 
that you could read them for yourselves. The look on their faces was the most precious and priceless thing I have ever seen. It means so much as a teenage girl to know that you have a daddy that loves you. It helps you make right choices. To know you have a father who will stand up for you holding out for God's best for you, is beyond words. Their necklaces have a lock, and daddy holds the keys. He told them he was keeping the keys until the day he hands them over to the man that they marry one day. I don't think he'll be handing these over to just anyone!
