Fire Control-Damage Control

I was driving the other day when the thought of Rachel and the whole boyfriend thing popped into my head.  For those of you who know my thinking on this issue, I might be considered "extreme" or "over the top".  I can guarantee you Rachel does.  So do some of her "would be" and "ex" suitors.  Anyway, the thought quickly jumped to Tayane, Aurilene, Andrezza, Carliane, and the other 20 teenage girls whom I must "guard/protect".   And every one of them knows I will do my job!  In fact, they like to joke about boyfriends because they know it gets my goat.

Anyways, you remember the fire from a few weeks back?  (Facebook) The Lord used that to speak to me about my predicament above.  Fathers of daughters, I believe that this is a word for you. 

Marcio and I were "fighting" the fire.  My father-in-law would have been proud...or laughed.  We probably looked like the Keystone Cops.  We had 20 feet of garden hose and about 100' of PVC pipe. The wind was blowing and there were probably 3 acres ablaze.  We were seriously trying to stop it, running back and forth in dress clothes-no time to change, and choking as the smoke burned our eyes.  As the fire approached the cow's barn and pig's pen, we did everything possible to prevent the loss of the animals.

Back to the girl/boy thing, you do everything you can to stop the boyfriend, girlfriend, dating thing.  You know that the end could be disastrous.  But in the end, you are really just doing everything possible to prevent permanent damage while the fire passes by; hoping and praying you can build the right fire breaks, cool the embers and not waste (stress out) time in areas where you will never have complete control.

Can we really control it?  Or do we focus on preventative measures?

Pro 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

This phase for a father of a daughter is stressful.  It's those years between "Train up a child" and "when he is old he will not depart" that stress me out.  And looking at our girls at the Lar, the fire-fighting isn't ending any time soon.  Pray with me for Rachel, Tayane and all the other girls being raised at the Davis Lar.  Pray God's will reigns in each of their lives.

Mark

Prayers and Praises
Praises:

v  Matt's first Semester at Gardner-Webb University

v  Christmas and New Years at the Lar

v  The Eusebio boys making Pizza for New Years at the Bakery

v  Ending the year in the black.

v  FBC Fortaleza's support and participation in 2010.  We couldn't have done it without them.

v  New Board of Directors, taking action and responsibility for the needs of the Davis Lar.

Prayer Requests:

v  2011 - Budget

v  Davis Lar Transportation - Kombis, Small Car

v  Tractor Went down Yesterday.
vNGU Scholarship Opportunities for Rachel