Countdown to Christmas…Day 19

This little angel and her band of brothers landed here last night and our home is alive with sound of children.

She went right to work pulling out the box of miniature Christmas trim and getting the Critter Cottage decorated.

So with all of that going on, I am taking the easy path this morning and sharing something I wrote for our He Shall Be Called devotional at church. This was my entry to the collection.

Hope you have a blessed day and I will see you tomorrow <3

Everlasting Father

My dad was a devoted husband and a good father. He provided for our family and would have walked through fire for us. If he was surprised to have a second child sixteen years into his marriage and eight years after his firstborn, he never let on.

He took me on errands with him to get me out of my mom’s hair, kept me by his side as he worked on projects and maintained a watchful eye on my school work and music lessons. 

I knew how to do well so he wouldn’t get angry and for some reason I didn’t push his buttons like my older sister did. I was often the liaison between her and mom with a dad who had a quick temper.

While I never doubted he loved me, I often felt he never really knew me. There were no conversations where he tried to know more about me, my thoughts, my sorrows, my joys, my interests. It was probably part of his generation. 

When Alzheimer’s stole large pieces of his memory and mind, he never forgot I was his youngest daughter. But he didn’t use my name the last eight years we cared for him. I could tell he couldn’t remember it even thought he would call my mom, my sister and even my husband by name.

It reenforced the sense that while he loved me, he really didn’t know me. During the years we cared for him, I deeply appreciated a praise song by Tommy Walker that we sang most Sundays in church. 

“I have a father. He calls me His own.

He’ll never leave me, no matter where I roam. He knows my name.

He knows my every thought.

He sees each tear that falls and hears me when I call.” 

Tommy Walker/He knows my Name

Tears fell frequently during those years.

The lyrics helped me understand that my earthly father had done the best he could. He loved me as much as is humanly possible.

Only God can know me as a perfect Father.

He made me and He knows everything about me. I am known and loved by my Everlasting Father.

And so are you.