Reflections of A Daughter

This picture was taken on his 30th birthday. It would be his last. Today he would have been 75 years old.

There are years that his birthday has come and gone without too much of a thought. I always remember. But, some years I have remembered with tears and painful memories. Tears of loss. Other years have passed without much emotion at all.

This year my heart aches to have him here. There are no tears, no pain of loss, just a longing. I want to sit with him and share our memories, to laugh and feel my father’s love.

I was five when my father died in a car crash. My memories are few. But I know he loved me. I know he was a man with great humor and loved to make people laugh. I have one memory of him hiding in the kitchen while my mother was hanging laundry outside. I was giggling and he kept telling me “shhh, your going to give me away!” But I couldn’t help myself, he looked so funny in my mother’s dress!

Through the years I’ve heard from others what a good man he was. He was a good daddy, loved his children and wife. And while I wish I could have known him longer I find comfort in knowing that my God is Sovereign over all. I find comfort in knowing that God is good. All the time He is good and He is good to me.

As I dropped my little granddaughter off last night I watch her run into her daddy’s arms and love on him. I watched my son’s eyes light up with joy. It warmed my heart. It must have been like that for me and my daddy. It brought a smile to my heart.

I reflect today on my father’s love for his children. A love that he gave feely and without condition because we were his. A father’s eyes that lit up with joy as his children ran to him.

Then I am reminded of my heavenly Father. A Father who has loved me with an everlasting love. A Father whose eyes light up every time I run to Him. He delights in me. I am His beloved daughter.

 Oh Heavenly Father if it were not for You I would have perished! I praise You for all the wonderful blessings You have given. Thank you for Your watchful eye guiding and protecting me. Your love that has never let me go! Oh God, My God how wonderful it is to know that you have loved me before the foundations of the earth. Before I was ever created in my mother’s womb you knew all the days of my life. You saw the day my daddy would die and all the years after to this very moment. Never have you forsaken me. Thank you Father! Thank you!

Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the LORD.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families,
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

Psalms 68:4-6