Anyone who has followed my blog will most likely recall the deep love and endearance I hold in my heart for my Dad. I do miss him terribly.
I can't believe he's been gone for over 2 years.
One of the songs I listen to often on my iPod is, "Daddy's Hands" and each time it brings me to tears. Just considering how difficult it must have been to show me that he loved me while simultaneously handing down
discipline and instruction. I know that at times, I crossed my arms and closed my heart...I sure thought I hated him.
Honestly, in the early years of my life, there was not a favorable word spoken about Christianity. It's not how you begin, however, it is how you end that counts, right? My Dad died a godly man and I have no doubt that he is comforted in Christ's bosom now.
Today's world has become so much more liberal than the world I grew up in, or even raised my own son in. Children are younger and younger when they are exposed to the poison that Satan has saturated society with. Even as an adult, I have at times succombed to the temptation of trashy 'input' in the form of music, TV shows, movies, substance abuse.
Satan knows how to tempt each of us with things that appeal to us individually. He watches us. He knows what turns our cranks.
1Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour
Oh, how crafty he is. A lion will watch the flock, waiting for hours or even days until he discovers the one who is weak, isolated or simply just not paying attention. It is then that he will pounce and conquer, destroy if possible. So often it begins ever so slowly...just a tiny little tidbit.
Just a little language.
Just a hint of sexual inuendo.
Just a "white lie" to save face.
Then it becomes a little more and a little more until we are no longer even recognizable as one who stands out from the world. We are now a part of it. 1John 2:15-17
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
SIMPLE! BLACK AND WHITE, RIGHT?? HA!!
How easy it is for us, as adults, to become entangled in the lusts of this world. How much more difficult it is for our children. The pressures of this world are so heavy. Society and the media dictates that our beauty exists in the curves of our bodies, the clothes we wear, our hairstyle,
the amount of money we have available to us.
In God's eyes, our beauty comes from within. Our faithfulness to Him and His Word. How well we are able to love others. If this concept escapes the majority of adult men and women...how can we expect our children to grasp it. Especially when their "friends" at school are telling them that if they want to fit in, they must conform.
We DO get our wires crossed from time to time, don't we?
Obviously, I've never been a Daddy. I do appreciate, however, the difficulty that the job entails. As the primary caregiver of my son, I had the role of both Mom and Dad the majority of the time. God's design calls for Dad to be the leader in the home. Having a dual role while keeping God's word alive through the early years, then the most difficult teen years was certainly a challenge.
The most important lesson I learned through this experience was that although it seemed to me (as a child) that I would hate my Dad forever, and as a parent that my son would hate me forever...this could not be further from the truth. When my Dad died, he was my hero. I can see now that he wanted me to become the best person I could be. I can't speak for my son, but what he tells me almost every day is that he actually appreciates the fact that I was extremely strict and that I kept him on the "straight and narrow".
This too shall pass!
A phrase for all Daddy's...well, parents in general, to remember.
True, we may not always know what to do and we may not do everything perfect, BUT in time, our children will rise up and understand that what we DID do was the very best we could because we love them and want them to be the best they can be.
To shine in this dark world. To stand out as Christians.
To be who they ARE and not who society commands them to be.
As the song says,
"There are things that I'd forgotten that I loved about the man
But I'll always remember the love in daddy's hands"
Here's to all you Daddys out there. I admire you for your steadfastness.
Keep up the GREAT WORK!
Daddy's Hands
I remember daddys hands folded silently in prayer And reachin' out to hold me,
when I had a nightmare
You could read quite a story in the callous' and lines
Years of work and worry had left their mark behind
I remember daddy's hands how they held my mama tight
And patted my back for something done right
There are things that I'd forgotten that I loved about the man
But I'll always remember the love in daddy's hands
CHORUS
Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin'
Daddy's hands were hard as steel when I'd done wrong
Daddy's hands weren't always gentle but I've come to understand
There was always love in daddy's hands.
I remember daddy's hands workin' 'til they bled
Sacrifised unselfishly just to keep us all fed
If I could do things over, I'd live my life again
And never take for granted the love in daddy's hands
Repeat CHORUS
