Father's Day thoughts...

gotta boast about my Luke a bit. first off, he's an amazingly talented, well-rounded, level-headed guy. He's a pilot. okay, that in and of itself is pretty darn cool, right? but you would never know he's a highly trained SAR pilot for the Coast Guard just from casual conversation. he NEVER puts on airs or tries to make much of himself or draw attention to himself. He's humble and unassuming - two wonderful character qualities i observed in him right off the bat when we began dating (well, actually a bit before when we were on the same volleyball team at church! haha!). He's a true 'family man' - his love for his immediate family (mom, dad, bros), extended family (grandparents, cousins, etc), my family, our little family, and our church family is evident. He's an observant person. quick to listen and think about things before speaking (something i could learn from him and grow in! haha!). He's quite funny and very cheesy at times (okay, a lot of the time!). He treats me with respect, love, and kindness. He's my best friend. He's also...a daddy now to our little daughter. 


Yesterday, we celebrated Luke's 1st ever Father's Day! Kathryn and I took him shopping, let him watch golf all weekend (hee hee), made him veggie omelets (it would have been sticky buns, bacon, and delicious stuff like that but we're both trying to eat really healthy), gave him a beautiful little Disney Princess card (one of those recordable ones - i recorded Kathryn 'talking' into it. cried when i wrote the message inside), two Richard Scarry books (his favorites growing up), and I took/edited/designed the image below and made it into a mousepad for our new desktop. He loved everything. 


But more importantly, he loves our daughter. He runs to her when she cries (yeah, forget the CIO method! haha! he's worse than me, at times!), holds her, sings over her, laughs with her (well, more like tries to make her laugh by laughing in a silly way himself), reads to her, nuzzles her little strawberry blonde hair with his nose as they snuggle together in the evenings, prays over her. I just soak it all in. 


The other day, I was making dinner and I knew he was on the computer in the hallway while she looked on in her bouncy seat. 'Us Against the World' by Coldplay came on and as i peaked around the corner, i beheld him tenderly holding her in his strong arms, his beautiful blue eyes misted over, looking down adoringly at her. one of the lines from the song reads:

Sing slow-ow-ow-ow it down
Oh Slow-ow-ow-ow it down


He looked up at me and said, 'I just keep telling her to slow down and stop growing up so fast." aaah, now the faucet turned on for the mommy in the house! :D what can i say? we're both hopeless romantics! I said, 'what are you going to be like during that father-daughter dance at her wedding one day?' haha!!!


even with all this paternal loving swirling around this house...and believe me, there's nothing NOTHING like that daddy-daughter relationship...I got to thinking about women out there who, perhaps yesterday did not hold warm, cuddly feelings inside for them. Maybe they're estranged from their earthly fathers. Maybe they were abused by them, betrayed, tossed aside. Maybe Father's Day brings the painful reminder of the day when they lost their precious dad to eternity all to soon. I wanted to gently encourage you out there if this matches your description. 


You have a Father. a perfect Father.


who loves you. 




in fact, He adores you. He's given up his very life for you and calls you his own. If you have repented of your sin and trusted fully in Christ for your salvation, you are now His precious daughter. He even sings over you...

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Zeph. 3:17

And, unlike earthly fathers, He's perfect. never leaves you. is the Great Healer and Redeemer and 'makes all things new'! Take heart, you are precious in His sight...

Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life. Isaiah 43:4

He sure did. He gave up Himself in your place. He made the great exchange - His perfect life for your broken one. He makes whole, He lifts up, He transforms...


The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and to release from darkness for the prisoners...to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. Isaiah 61:1,3

He's a father to the Fatherless.                              That's the kind of God we serve.