Gone are the days of those Norman Rockwell
armchair-sitting, hat-wearing, pipe-smoking thinking men
coming home from work to put their feet up
in their lazy-boy recliner thrones
peeking from behind shuffling grey newspapers
to offer stern wisdom from time to time
and remind the little ones to speak only when spoken to.
But these days call for a different daddy
those ant-finding, Barbie-playing, couch-wrestling heroes
jumping out from closets with flashlights under their chins
sitting in the stickiness of crumbs on the table breakfasts
and building forts with chairs and garish Disney character blankets
All pride aside as they get down on the floor
to lift up their children with their feet
for the ultimate flight simulator.
Waking up in the night from those chest lifting snores
Like the sun rising and falling
or the sound of waves landing safely on shore
Taking turns with the baby as the real shelter
from the thunderstorms.
and despite all mom’s back-seat driving
and hands on the hips questions
he is… safety, love, and what makes our houses…homes.
But every daddy moment is just a glimpse
A whisper of an Abba Father patiently waiting in the thick of it
Somehow their adoration in those silly G.I. Joe games
giddy laughter from the basement and back porch squeals
bare foot walks and late night mermaid stories
all the way to hidden tears over gowns at prom, graduation
and that walk down the aisle…
These are all rippling reflections
of Genesis rainbows to a stone rolled away
those long dusty walks from town to town
and from a manger to a cross
somehow it all feels more like eavesdropping
on the evolution of a loving father
from that arm chair throne to the toy-cluttered carpet
All pride aside as He came down
to lift His children up
the ultimate flight simulator.
and we hop into prayer
like nestling next to Daddy
in a booming thunderstorm
with sheets of rain driving sideways in the wind
And we give this day to You, Abba Father
This life to you
with its flood of uncertainties
wincing before each loud boom
There are those nights
when we cannot predict the timing or the intensity
of the mystery that shakes the windows
as if an ill-intending intruder pounding to come inside
But You just tuck us snug in the middle
telling epic stories of David prayers
in the middle of his own storms
as You whisper beneath the comforter of morning orison
reminding us all what we already know
but still need to hear only You say
Because…
"No matter what happens. Daddy’s here."
"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:13
"Be kind to thy father, for when thou wert young, Who loved thee so fondly as he? He caught the first accents that fell from thy tongue, And joined in thy innocent glee." -- Margaret Courtney
"Certain is it that there is no kind of affection so purely angelic as of a father to a daughter. In love to our wives there is desire; to our sons, ambition; but to our daughters there is something which there are no words to express." Joseph Addison
"As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him." Psalm 103:13
