This message was written by Francis' daughter Joy in 1995. It has been part of our In Christ's Image Training Prayer track since 2002. We felt that this would be a special blessing to some of you right now. Currently, Joy and her husband, Steve, have two children of their own. She is a successful businesswoman who continues to be an immense blessing to her parents.
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No one can tell me that fathers and daughters can't have close relationships, or even become best friends. People are almost envious of the love my dad and I share. The only time we argue is about who loves who the most. But our relationship was not always this warm. There was a time when I felt I had lost my ability to love my father. I was a teenage Christian in a public high school. My Christian background made me different. I was new, craving acceptance. My father's rules seemed to be the source of my rejections.
Fueled by my insecurities, in my eyes my dad became the root of my problems. While I set an adequate standard and struggled to live by it, he was strict. I was angry because he refused to back down from the standard he knew was right. He refused to appeal to my ignorance in order to keep my acceptance.
