A Faithful Father

To this day, my parents love to joke that I was raised by wolves. This is mostly because of my somewhat fearless and absolutely bold nature, but truth be told it was all, my father’s fault! (busted!)

From day one I was a daddy’s girl! When I was in the first grade, my parents had enrolled us in an extremely conservative Independent Baptist school; conservative in the traditional sense of women not wearing pants and such. I recently remembered our career fair from that year and when my class finally got to interview the Pastor, I have no idea what question I asked him, but he looked at me sternly and in the most crusty nasty voice (or as my 7-year-old mind chronicled it at the time) told me, “Girls cannot be pastors!” I was crushed, because I wanted to be just like “Daddy.”

As I was growing up, I did everything my daddy told me. He taught me how to swim, climb, hike, ride a bike, shoot a basketball, and hang on to any kind of life preserving instrument. I jumped when he said jump. No questions asked, and no doubt that my daddy would not let me fall. Ever since I could remember I was climbing rocks that seemed like mountains in Contoctan State Park, sliding down waterfalls at our North Carolina family reunions, boogey-boarding on big waves, rafting down whitewater rivers (even when I was technically too small based on park regulations) - Daddy, just always said, “Hold on!” With his excited tone and loving eyes, I knew a few bumps or bruises were a possibility, but ultimately I would be ok. My daddy would never leave me, and I definitely didn’t want to miss out on a new adventure.

All through my life my family has had struggles in the Church. My father has been a Pastor at four different churches in my lifetime. At almost every one of these, like at any job, there have been problems and conflict – It’s just a part of life. It’s so much harder when things like this happen in churches because these people aren’t just your co-workers; they are your church family. However, no matter how bleak the circumstances or how cruel the individual, my father has never become bitter or angry with anyone or even God. He says, he was called to a task, he was going to faithful and he would never compromise the truth, even if it meant losing his job. Not once in my life have I had to go without, even when my father was without a job and we were without a home. God always provided, and I am fully convinced that it is because of my father’s steadfast faithfulness.

You see at an early age I learned what it meant to desire to emulate a father and even more so what it meant to trust a father. I know in the hard times, while my father never let me see it, he had doubts – we all have doubts. But like the lyrics from one of my favorite songs says, my father’s heavenly Father said to him,

“Hold on, hold on

When the current pulls you under

And your heart beats like thunder

Just give me your hand

And hold on, hold on

Until the storm is over

And I'll be fighting for you

Just give me your hand

And hold on” -33 Miles

In this life, on our journey to make the Gospel known and glorify Christ with our goings, we will get some bumps and bruises but listen to your Father, “hold on!” He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will gives us wings like eagles. He has a plan to prosper us and not to harm us; a plan to give us a hope and a future.

That is why it is my firm ambition, that in all circumstances, I will put my hope and trust in God and I will “hold on” to my heavenly Daddy! Because if I’m too afraid to jump, I’ll never learn to fly and I’ll miss out on the new adventure and an abundance of blessings He’s been preparing me for.

Let’s go skydiving! :)

Happy Father’s Day to the most amazing father a girl could ever have!

I love you Daddy!