• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Stephen M. Miller

Award-Winning, Bestselling Christian Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog Features
  • Bible
  • Contact
Painting/photo of Jerusalem Temple-Casual English Bible

When our kids make us cry for happy

Stephen M. Miller
man and boy on skateboard on London street
LONDON EXPRESS. A man and a boy on a mission to stay vertical, in a street scene from London. Photo by Vadim Timoshkin.

I CRIED IN GRATITUDE last weekend.

Once for my son.

Once for my daughter.

I couldn’t help it.

It wasn’t blubbery, though I’ve done that before.

It was just a pair of watery eyeballs, dripping a bit.

My daughter doesn’t know it, but the tears came when I had to say goodbye to our church worship leader on Sunday. A couple of years ago, he auditioned my daughter for the church worship band. He said he liked how she sang. So he included her on the rotation among the other musicians who helped him each Sunday.

Until then, it had been years since I had been able to hear my daughter sing. When she was growing up, I used to sit on the stairs out of her sight and listen to her play the piano and sing in our living room.

She has her own living room now. And a husband. And a baby boy on the way.

The worship leader let me hear my daughter again. And he let others hear her, too.

At the end of Sunday’s worship service, I stood in line to say goodbye. I hugged the young man who’s growing a full beard in the hopes that it will help the Kansas City Royals win a World Series.

I choked out, “Thanks for giving voice to my daughter.” And I kissed him on the cheek.

That would thoroughly embarrass my daughter.

But that’s one of my jobs as a dad.

So here’s a link to her singing, accompanied by that worship leader: Winter Snow.

Son in the eyes

On Friday my eyes filled because of my son.

We were meeting with my editor half a continent away. I took my son because he’s my marketing guy. We were scheduled to meet last month. But the editor’s son and dad both died in the crash of a small plane shortly after takeoff.

We rescheduled the meeting for this past week.

As the meeting approached, I wondered what I could possibly say to the editor as I stood before him with my son at my side…knowing that his son was gone.

I never could figure out what to say. The thought of the scene always melted me.

Face to face with the editor on Friday, I introduced my son and we spoke of his son.

At visit’s end, the editor told me his boy would have enjoyed meeting my boy. Both young men have excelled in marketing.

There are plenty of times in our life when we parents don’t think about our kids who are grown and gone, living lives of their own.

Then there are times when we can’t stop thinking about them, and thanking God for them.

For more about family relationships

  • Secret to a happy family
  • A family worth singing about
  • A song for family reunions

Bible Gateway Blogger Grid

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

Like this:

Like Loading...
View All Posts - Ordered by Most Recent First
« Previous
Next »

About Stephen M. Miller

STEPHEN M. MILLER is an award winning bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity and author of the Casual English Bible® paraphrase. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s and Where’s Where in the Bible.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Casual English Bible Website

Featured Book

Complete Guide to the Bible

Complete Guide to the Bible
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Christian Book Distributor
Buy from Google Play

Latest Posts

  • When our faith glitches May 5, 2025
  • Job is the right book for me now April 16, 2025
  • Q for AI: “Do most scholars say Jesus never existed?” April 3, 2025

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog Features
  • Books
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · Stephen M. Miller · All Rights Reserved

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Reject AllAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
%d