Daddy

Usually, I don’t bother much with the manufactured holidays. But this year, I have found Father’s Day to be a compelling topic of thought. So I want to tell my readers about Daddy.

I am fortunate to still have my Daddy. So many of my friends have lost their dads, or their dads are in poor health. My Daddy is still going strong … though I suppose if I were honest I would have to admit that he’s beginning to slow down a bit. Not much. But it’s there.

Daddy is such an amazing man. Where do I begin to describe this wonderful man?

Let me start with his spiritual life. For as far back as I can remember, my Daddy has made his spiritual life a priority. All my life, he has risen at 0500 to spend time reading the Bible and praying. I know, and it is a source of tremendous comfort and peace to me, that my Daddy prays for every single member of his family by name and by specific need, every single day.

Daddy knows that I love books, so he often gives me special gifts of books. Over the years, there have been Bibles, study guides, and devotionals, among many others. But there are two that have pride of place on my bedside table. One is a John MacArthur NRSV Study Bible marked with the daily reading plan that he has used for decades. The other is a copy of Oswald Chambers’s My Utmost for His Highest, with these words written on the flyleaf:

I have prayed for thirty years that each of my children will know Christ personally …. These devotionals are deep, often deceptively so. … I pray that these devotionals will cause you to search the inner recesses of your understanding of your relationship to God … may they bring you to a trust in God, an awareness of the leading of the Holy Spirit, and a friendship with Christ that is immeasurably greater than my own.”

What an amazing, wonderful, awe-full goal for a dad to have for his child! A relationship with the living God that surpasses his own.

When my marriage fell apart, Daddy was there to help me pick up the pieces. He’s even run interference between me and my former husband when situations got unpleasant. He spent hours and hours counseling with us, trying to save the marriage. It broke his heart, I think, that all of the effort was unsuccessful and I was forced to leave. But he has never wavered in his support of me.

And my dad loves my mother with the most unselfish, beautiful love that ever was between man and woman. He has been wholly faithful to her for 45 years of marriage, and has loved her through good times and bad, through illness and through health. He has kept every vow that he made on their wedding day. When mom and I had some rough spots between us, he refused to let us leave the situation with anger between us. He sat as referee and helped us heal our relationship, so that my mother is now my best and most treasured friend.

When I was a teenager and was teased about my name so much that I wanted to change it, Daddy sat down with me and explained how I had gotten my name, and what it meant to him. I have never again wanted to change it, because my Daddy’s words were so beautiful and affirming.  When I was younger and boys rejected me and called me ugly, Daddy started taking me on dates and telling me how beautiful I was. We still have a date for lunch on my birthday, every year. He has loved me unconditionally and selflessly all of my life.

He has had faith in me when I had none left. He has hoped for me when I had no will left to hope. He has loved me when I had nothing to give in return. He has encouraged me when I thought there was no reason left to be encouraged. He has lifted me up and wiped my tears and set me back on my feet countless times, and with never an unkind or blaming word  — even when I fell down because of my own stupidity.

Above all, and it is the highest praise I can think of to give to him, Daddy has shown me what God’s love is like. It is an ocean with no bottom, no edges, no end. It lifts you and carries you when life is too hard for you. It stands beside you and guides you when you are fighting life’s battles. It offers rest and refreshment to a weary soul. It loves you when you are unlovely, and it affirms your beauty in its beholding eyes. It gives its all and is still willing to give, overflowing and unstoppable. It is a fountain of life, hope, and peace. That is God’s love. And that is my Daddy’s love.

Oh, dear God, thank you for my Daddy.

Tags: Christianity, Daddy, Family Life, Father, Father's Day, kindness, love, Philosophy, Religion