Jeff Foxworthy is hilarious. When I was in college I came across this VHS tape of him performing in Atlanta at a venue called. . . . ughhh. . .I can’t remember. I’ve been there. I think it’s called Center Stage. Doesn’t matter. Anyway. . .it’s one of those videos where I would literally laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe and I could not wait to show other people when they came over. (which is a blog about spreading a brand all by itself)

Anyway, there is a clip in that video where he’s talking about his daughter. She had just been born and he made the following point (joke): He said. . .

“My daughter, she is so sweet, she looks at me with adoring eyes, she thinks I’m the best, I can do no wrong in her eyes. I know that in 15 years she’ll be driving around in the back of a Camaro, smoking a cigarette, saying, (insert deep redneck accent) “My Dad is such a prick”.

Well, it’s not that funny reading it. You’ll just have to trust me. . .in college, in that video. It was funny.

Anyway, I used to tell about that clip when I was talking to people about my daughter. She was little and certainly felt the way about me that little girls do. Her Dad was great and could do no wrong. However, deep down even though it didn’t feel right,  I knew the day was coming where she would probably be in the back of that metaphorical Camaro talking about me.

In a weird way I had kind of resigned myself to that. As if that was my destiny b/c Jeff Foxworthy said it on a video and EVERYONE experiences that. They do right?

Then one day I had lunch with a friend of mine named Ron Doyle.

Ron’s a little older than me and is a great guy. He asked about my family. My daughters were probably 5 and 7 at the time and I, almost routinely went in to my shallow, funny Jeff Foxworthy monologue. I no more finished the line when Ron looked at me and said, “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

I looked at Ron and almost embarrassingly said, “Oh, I know. Of course.” But he stayed there for a minute. Told me I was a great Dad and that my story could be very different from that monologue. That it was possible that my daughters will be 15 and talking about what a great and loving guy their Dad was.

We didn’t stay there long but I’ve never forgotten that brief interaction and I will tell you it had a profound impact on me. A man with some influence in my life looked at me and called BS to what I was believing me and told me it didn’t have to be that way. Words are powerful.

I have a 15 year old daughter. We have a good relationship. Truth is, I’m crazy about her. The other day I was reading through her twitter account b/c that’s what I do. She is her own list on my twitter so I can always pull up and see what she’s saying. I came across this tweet about a month ago. . .

Even when I’m having the worst mornings my dad always seems to have me getting out of the car with a smile #daddysgirl

Simple I know. But I’ll take it. She’s not in that Camaro hating her Dad. She’s 15 and she’s trying to figure out life. In the midst of figuring out clothes and friends and school, she was thankful that her Dad could put a smile on her face.

I am too.

Thanks for those words Ron.

Speak life into someone today. Kindly but deliberately let them know that “it doesn’t have to be that way.”