Daddy's Day

I love this picture. 
Yep.  That's me. 
And those are my daddy's hands that I'm toddling toward.
I love my daddy, and I love what this picture represents.  I love the safety found in daddy's arms.  I love the strength.  I love that they're ready to scoop me up if I happen to fall.  I love that those arms still give me hugs today even though I'm no longer a toddler. 

You know what else I love about my daddy?  I love that those same hands that loved on me also disciplined me.  WHAT?!?!  Yup.  I said it.  Sure, maybe I wasn't too thrilled about it at the time, but looking back, I'm thankful that I was disciplined.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.  Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.  I'm thankful because it has helped mold me into a better person.  I'm thankful because I now have a firm godly foundation to stand on.

I remember hearing, "Stop your whining, or else I'll give you something to whine about!"  :-)  And I will never forget those car rides when I'd start being a little naughty.  I was only a little naughty, mind you...my brothers were always the really naughty ones.  Haha.  Typically, there would be a warning of some sort.  It might have gone a little something like this...

But I knew I was in for it when Dad's hand came reaching around the back of the seat.  Keep in mind that he is a farmer.  Years of working on the farm have helped him develop a vise-like grip.  So when that hand comes back and latches on to your leg and squeezes your calf...you start to pay attention.  Trust me.  I learned to obey REALLY quickly that way.  You can scootch away and try to avoid Dad's hand, but when you're in a little two-door coupe, there's really no getting away.  Haha...perhaps Ken Davis needs to take a few lessons from my dad, because his methods don't seem to be quite as effective...

 

Anyway, I don't know exactly how my daddy reacted when I was born.  Maybe it went a little something like this...

Like I said, I don't know how my daddy reacted, but I do know that I am and have always been my daddy's favorite daughter.  Okay, okay...so truthfully, I'm also his only daughter, but I do know that he loves me very much.  And I know that he has shown me that he loves me even on those very rare (haha) occasions when he had to discipline me.  I love that I know that there is also safety, strength, and love to be found in my daddy's arms, but that doesn't even come close to the overwhelming safety, strength, and love that my Daddy in heaven has for me.  I'm so very thankful that my Abba Father God has blessed me with a glimpse of what His love is like through my daddy here on earth. 

I love you, Daddoo!!!  :-)

Happy Daddy's Day!!