his girl. HIS girl.

“
These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. ~Deuteronomy 6:6-9 ”

I've always been a daddy's girl.

My earliest of memories include him rocking me to sleep at night as he hummed softly or resting my head on his shoulder sleeve during church on Sunday.   

If you know my dad, you know that he has a quiet strength - this incredibly calm and peaceful quality to him. He rarely gets frazzled or angry. He is funny and smart and silly. He is the most selfless person I've ever known. Just by being himself, my dad has forever made me feel safe and loved and special. To disappoint him would be heartbreaking to me - not just as a child, but even now - and yet I know his forgiveness would come quickly. That's just how he is. 

Jesus shines so brightly through him. 

When he walked me down the aisle and gave me away at my wedding, there wasn't a dry eye in the church, his included. As much as he loves my husband as a son, I'm sure it was a difficult leap for him to let me go and entrust me, his precious little girl, to someone else.

But the beautiful truth is that I was a gift to my dad on loan from another father - our heavenly Father. 

As a babe, I had been entrusted to him by the Lord of all. From eternity, God in his wisdom chose my dad to be the man to lead our family well and raise me in a loving, Christian home. He was the one to bring me to the baptism font. He was given the privilege and responsibility to teach me the truths of the Bible. It was my dad who enrolled me for daily instruction in a Christian elementary school and high school and then dropped me off at Martin Luther College to study to become a teacher of little lambs. 

I'm not a little girl on his lap anymore, but I will always be my dad's best girl. Age and distance don't put limits on that. Even more true and important, I will forever be a child of God. As much as my dad loves and cares for me, I know without hesitation that my Heavenly Father adores me even more.

My dad is the one who taught me that. 

his girl. His girl.

I am oh so blessed to be both.