Daddy, I Miss You

A clergyman walking down a country lane saw a young farmer struggling to load some hay back onto a cart after it had fallen off.

“You look hot,” the pastor said. “Why don’t you rest a moment and I’ll give you a hand.”

“No thanks,” the young man said. “My father wouldn’t like it.”

“Don’t be silly,” the pastor said. “Everyone is entitled to a break. Come on. Let’s take a break for a drink of water.”

“NO!” the farmer said. “My dad will be upset!

“Losing his patience, the clergyman said, “Your father must be a real slave driver. Tell me… where is he? I want to give him a piece of my mind!”

“Well,” Jack said, “he’s under the hay!”

I needed that LOL today because I’m a little melancholy. I probably shouldn’t write about anything sad in a LOL blog, but the bare truth is, I miss my Dad. Maybe some of you are going through the same thing.

Daddy is in heaven and I know he is safe with Jesus, but I long to throw my arms around his neck and hug him.

I wish I could tell him again how much he meant to my life.

~ He sacrificed much so I could go to Bible college.

~ He taught me right from wrong.

~ He always encouraged me to be a woman of wisdom and integrity.

~ He helped me understand what to look for in a husband:  stability and worthy character.

Though he was often away in the military, when he was home, he was our family’s rock. It simply hurts that he is not with us anymore ~ gone too soon. But I am comforted by sweet memories.

I’m not the only child who misses a dad, of course. I’m thinking of all the daughters and sons who have lost their fathers in recent days … to war … to cancer or a heart attack … to Alzheimer’s and a host of other terrible things.

I’m also thinking about the children whose dads are alive but aren’t around either physically or emotionally to meet their families’ needs ... and this video describes that pain.

My dad will always be my first hero. He protected me, provided for me, loved me, and gave me early opportunities to get to know about the Father in Heaven who has cared for me all the years since Daddy died.

My Heavenly Father now protects me (Psalm 32:7; 121:4-8), provides for me (Philippians 4:19-20) and loves me (1 John 4:19). He has comforted me all these years, and given me purpose and power for living. And someday, I’ll go to live in the Father’s house (John 14:2-3).

I pray that everyone who hurts on this Father’s Day will know and be encouraged by the love of the Father above. We still miss our dads, but it’s wonderful to know that we can rest secure in the Father’s loving arms.

A Father’s Wisdom

A young woman named Charlotte Alexander says that before she took the old family car off to college, her father loaded the trunk with soft drink bottles.

One was filled with oil, one with coolant, and one with transmission fluid.

Sure enough, her car overheated. She scolded herself for not listening to her father’s instructions as she looked at the engine. Then she realized how well her father knew her.

The oil cap was labeled “Dr. Pepper.” The transmission stick was labeled, “Coke.” The empty coolant container was labeled “Diet Pepsi.”

“I finished the trip safely,” Charlotte said. *

Fathers who are wise bless their children in ways they may not realize. Author and radio host Nancy Leigh DeMoss said she learned from her father to “Take God Seriously.”

“For him, Christianity was not just a compartment of your life,” she wrote. “It wasn’t just a category, a part of your life like your school, your job, your hobbies, your relationships, your family, your entertainment, your faith … It was an absolute, fundamental, core reality of his life … He never could understand people who were kind of half-hearted or nominal Christians. That whole concept made no sense to him at all. To him, if you were a Christian, you were a new person. You had to take God seriously. You had no choice.”

The influence of Nancy’s father, Art DeMoss, was clearly felt in the life of his daughter. She grew up to take God very seriously. She is now the head of a ministry for women, Revive Our Hearts, and she constantly points people to revival truth.

My own dad, Harry Webb, was a quiet man, not the dynamo that Art DeMoss was. But he taught me to look to the Lord for wisdom. It was, perhaps, his greatest gift. He left me with this powerful scripture that has guided my life:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways remember him. Then he will make your paths smooth and straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Have respect for the Lord and avoid evil” (Proverbs 3:5-7).

Later, as a college-age student, my “spiritual dad,” Del Fehsenfeld, Jr., reminded me not to “boast” in my own wisdom, but in the fact that I know God and delight in Him (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

In these days when feminists try to downplay the place and value of fatherhood, we need the wisdom of men who