Daddy

Its Father's Day, and I wanted to dedicated this post to my daddy. I have been asked to speak at church tonight about my dad, which has my nerves all worked up b/c I just do NOT like being up in front of people. For any reason. Anyway, I have been working this morning typing up what I want to say about daddy, and I wanted to post it here in its entirety:

In honor of Father’s Day, I want to tell you all about my dad, the most incredible man I know. I don’t think I will be able to fully do him justice and fully describe to you how neat he is, but I hope to do my best.

My dad, whom I still call and probably will always call “daddy” more than I do dad, is in my opinion the best dad a girl could have.

I am the youngest in my family, and am the only girl, having one older brother, so I am probably your stereotypical Daddy’s Girl. I admit it. I am a daddy’s girl. I have successfully mastered the pout in my years on this earth as my daddy’s daughter, and am pretty sure that from the time I was born my dad has been securely wrapped around my little finger. One of my favorite father daughter activities growing up was sitting in my dad’s lap. I used to do all the time. And, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I still to this day, still occasionally sit in his lap. There are just certain times I need my daddy to hold me. And, he told me once I have permission to do it until I am 40, so I need to do it while I can.

My dad was always the better discipline giver in our house. I was an extremely strong willed child. I know some of you who know me might find that hard to believe, but trust me. I was strong willed. And I needed that strong will to be in a way, broken. My dad successfully did that, I think. He was always so calm about punishment. He told me about his one time when I was really small where I had done something that was deserving of a spanking. I don’t remember this at all, but he said when he had finished, I immediately screamed, “I hate you daddy!” So, he had to punish me again. And, I said it again. I am not sure how long this went back and forth. My dad told me that he remember thinking, “She is going to win. I cannot keep beating this child.” I am not sure what he did exactly in the end. I am so thankful for his loving discipline. I know that I needed it. And it made me develop a healthy fear of my dad.

A lot of my friends were a little scared of my dad. They saw him as this quiet, serious, guy who was super spiritual and incredibly intimidating. But I see him differently. I think my dad is hilarious. He is weird in his humor sometimes, but humorous all the same. He has a weird, dry sense of humor and thinks the strangest things are funny sometimes.

On a more serious side, my daddy is the most Godly, God fearing, wise spiritual man I have ever known. He has led our family and brought us up to fear and know God.
One thing that will always stick in my mind when I think about my dad’s relationship with God is his prayer chair. In my parents house, the house I pretty much grew up in, my dad has a chair in the living room that is referred to as his prayer chair. That is where he sits when he reads, studies, prays, or listens to worship music. I can remember countless times coming home and finding my dad sitting in his chair, headphones on, arms raised, worshipping God with tears streaming down his face, or stretched out on his face in the floor. I remember times when I was sat in the prayer chair so my parents could pray over me. It’s a part of my dad.

He is passionate about worship and what it means to truly worship God. He is passionate about personal holiness and living a life that is holy and pleasing to God. He will talk your ear off about Missions and especially missions to India, which is where his heart is. He has gone on and led several short term mission trips to India for about 6 or 7 years now, and is involved in a ministry over there. He is a missionary, and his calling is for short term missions and motivating other to get involved in missions. He gets so emotional sometimes when he speaks of God, and what God is doing. It’s amazing.

I think that God has used my dad, my earthly father, to give me a picture of Himself, my heavenly father. My dad is not perfect, and is human and sins, and makes mistakes, so the picture isn’t perfect, but it is a glimpse, and a picture nonetheless. I know my dad loves me. I have never doubted that. I know he will always love me. He is proud of me and excited about what God has done and is doing in my life. He couldn’t love me more or less. I love my dad. I respect him, I fear him. I want to be like him in so many ways.

My heavenly father loves me. He loves me unconditionally. He can’t love me any more or less. I fear God. I want to be like Christ, and God works in my life and disciplines me and refines me to make me more like Him. He is delighted with me and rejoices over me with singing. I know that is b/c of Christ in me. And it is Christ in my dad that has made him the father and man of God that he is today. I hope that by honoring my earthly father today, that I honor and glorify my heavenly father.

I know there a lot of people out there who don’t have the kind of earthly dad that I have been undeservingly blessed with. I wish with all my heart that it could be so, but its not, not on this earth. But regardless of how your earthly father may be, my prayer is that you can truly know and understand that God is your father. Your heavenly father is good. He never changes. He is not passive. He is never absent. He will not walk out on you or ever leave you. He will never harm you, or manipulate you. He is just. He disciplines when we need it, but with love. He loves us unconditionally.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy. I love you.