Although Father's Day has passed already, I couldn't help but write a post about how great of a dad I have. I started to write some things once I got inspired.... but I kept hitting the delete key. So I gave up, and decided to just spend some time with the Lord instead, praising him for such a wonderful earthly father He blessed me with.
So, while I was spending some time with the Lord this evening I couldn't help but go back through my current journal and read some of my old notes and prayers. I started back at the beginning of the first day that I used it. I always love my handwriting on the first entry of all my journals. I'm sure if you're a writer you can totally relate. You know how it goes - you put your best foot forward, because it's a fresh start a new beginning. I feel like I always say some profound things in that first journal entry, my handwriting is font-worthy... but then as we dig deeper into the journal the handwriting gets kind of blah, and it almost seems like some of my writings aren't as long and poetic as the first couple. I always tend to find that interesting.... I feel like there can be several parallels to that in life.
For instance - school. Every student, no matter how great or poor of a student you may be... always puts their best foot forward at the beginning of the semester. Take extra notes, arrive to class a couple minutes early, actually listen... and might even open the text book. Then as the semester continues to go on, and on... and on, we all tend to dial back a little. We slack a little here or there, we tend to procrastinate. Even the best planner and "J-minded" folks will even slack on our color coding a little towards the end there - yes, I color code my calendar to match the folders of my corresponding classes. I'm not a nerd, I'm just prepared. You should try it, I think you would find it not only helpful, but also appealing to the eye.
Anyways, back to my journal.....
So, I read my first entry in this current journal (and patted myself on the back for my neat cursive that would have won any handwriting contest in 5th grade - remember those?)... it was this past December 25th, Christmas Day. I remember this last Christmas vividly. It was bittersweet. It was just me, mom and dad. Justin and Kristin (my brother and his wife) were in Cleveland with Kristin's family, and Jessica and Austin (my sister and her husband) were with his family in Van Wert. So, it was just the three of us - me and the parental unit. Christmas morning we were sitting around the breakfast table enjoying my mom's french toast - gosh that woman can cook - and my dad asked us this question: "If you could meet anyone in the Bible, who would it be? Oh - and you can't pick Jesus, because you've already met him." My mom and I kind of looked at one another and laughed at first, then thought about who we would really want to meet. I journaled every detail of that morning because I never wanted to forget it. It was my first Christmas with just me and my parents, and my dad gave me some love, encouragement and wisdom that was worth more than any gift under the tree.
You see, my dad asks a lot of questions, that's probably where I get it from. I'm a lot like my father. Way more like my dad than I am like my mom, I'm certainly learning that more as I get older. Certainly, I have several similarities to my mother, but I think as a whole, I'm more like my dad. So, anyways - my dad asks a lot of questions, but rarely are they questions that could stir up a potentially beautiful conversation centered on spirituality.
My dad waited for us patiently as we thought. My mom was the first to respond, she said she would want to meet Job. Job because she would want to be able to take a walk with him and talk about his sufferings, how well he was able to manage them - but not just manage them, but take them and glorify the Lord with them. My mom hates her job, like seriously hates it. It's really sad, actually. We used to laugh and try to joke around about it, but in the last year or so it has gotten to the point where we just don't bring it up because it upsets her to talk about it. It makes sense to me that my mom would want to meet Job, I think she knows he could give her some perspective that she longs for because she feels so beaten down.
After my mom's response, my dad looked at me - I knew that meant it was my turn. I told my parents that I would want to meet Paul, for a number of reasons, but mainly because he was single. Not because I wanted to woo him over, but because I admired him - still admire him. The man was single for what we know and believe his entire life, he loved the church and he loved Christ. He lived for the church and he lived for Christ. Day in and day out - night after night. He sought to glorify the Lord with every word, action, step and thought. He spent his time focusing on using the blessing of his singleness to bring glory to the Kingdom by spreading the Lord's word and love, and not by moping around and being bummed about not being married or being with someone. Paul was bold. Full of love and grace, and he wasn't scared to dish out the truth when it needed to be give. So, I said Paul.
My dad smiled at me, then winked. Looked back down at his french toast, and gave his own answer. Daniel. He said he wanted to meet Daniel for five reasons.... and here they are, I wrote them down word for word:
1. He was a leader who wasn't about politics. Daniel translated dreams for king Nebuchandnezzar, and was honest and genuine about what the Lord wanted to reveal to the king. He didn't hold anything back or make up nonsense that would put himself in a position that would build up his character. He was genuine and true about who he was, and who the Lord was in his life. People noticed a "Spirit" in him that was like no other.
2. Courageously obedient. Daniel went against what the crowd was doing and chose to glorify the Lord with his diet. He didn't do this in secret either, he made it clear to whoever what he was doing and what his intentions were with not eating the King's meat. His faith was strong enough to convince some of his closest friends to do it too - here you have a courageously obedient leader among peers.
3. Sympathetic. My dad self proclaims that he's not the most sympathetic man, and he would love to talk to Daniel about what it means to be a strong and sympathetic man.
4. He wasn't at all pretentious with his prayer to the Lord. Daniel had a pretty beefed up resume, and not once in his prayer to the Lord does he bring up his "credentials". Daniel is humble and knows where he stands before the Lord, or better said - he knows where he kneels before the Lord.
5. And I quote straight from my dad's mouth to my journal and now to this blog entry:
"Daniel got to have a sleepover with lions... what a badass".
Isn't my dad pretty awesome? Loving, wise and he is pretty funny. After I read that first page of my journal, I decided to go ahead and start reading the book of Daniel to see what this guy is all about... thanks, for the encouragement dad. :)
You know what I find interesting... I couldn't find the words to write something about my dad in this blog. I had a million different things in my head that I wanted to share and write about, but not one of them could formulate onto this page for me. So I stopped, and surrendered to the Lord, my true Father - and He guided me to the words that I really wanted to share about my daddy. In order to really lift up my earthly dad, I first needed to meet my Father and bring glory and praise and worship to His name first. Isn't that interesting.... ? It's perfect, and it makes perfect sense. Regardless of how much I desire to talk about my own dad, I must look to my Father and Creator first. We must always go to Him first, our Father first... not our daddy's, but our Father.
I'm beginning to learn this more and more in my life as I continue to journey with the Lord. The last 25 years of my life I have always gone to my daddy first for direction, for answers to questions, for praise and approval, for a hug and for comfort.... but I'm beginning to learn what it means to really go to my Father first, for all of those things and more. When I need a little help financially, pray about it first instead of asking dad to give me a couple bucks to get through the week. When I am frustrated with house problems, instead of calling and complaining to my dad I should first cast my anxieties on the Lord because He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7).
Even in my dad's response to his own question on Christmas Day, he gave little nuggets of wisdom that pointed to how we can turn our body to face the Lord instead of ourselves. My dad wants me to turn to the Lord first, not him... my Father wants me to turn to Him first and not my dad.
So... friends, that's what this daddy's girl is going to try and start doing, and I encourage my fellow sisters in Christ who consider themselves daddy's girls to do the same.
