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As an adult and a father, I wake up with tons of responsibilities.  As I mentally prepare for the business of the day, I make my breakfast and quietly start some coffee trying not to wake up the kids.  I am particularly conscious of my routine in order to avoid soggy cereal.  Soggy cereal has been repulsive to me, ever since I was a kid; therefore, I have had a systematic plan to mitigate such a travesty.

Invariably, after I pour my milk from the bedroom comes a one-word cry.  The call is long and drawn out, “Daaaaaaaaaddeeeey!”  It is the prayer of my 6-year-old daughter.  My mind instantly forgets its aversion to soggy cereal, as I walk down the hall and open the door to her room and see a mound of covers and stuffed animals, and the face of my daughter peering over the bunk rails looking for her Daddy.  She is too comfy, to get out of bed to greet me, but my heart melts as I see her shining eyes whisper, “Daddy!”  There is nothing formal about our ritual, we do not practice it or memorize our lines, yet it is at that moment that Heaven graces earth with the joy of Daughter and Daddy.

I then return to my soggy cereal, and realize, I would eat soggy cereal for the rest of my life just to hear that simple word filled with a lifetime of relationship, and see that face filled with expectancy.  She rolls over and goes back to sleep, but my daughter simply wants to see her Daddy, and knows that her Daddy wants to see her.

I find that one word Daddy, is pretty powerful in other contexts as well.  My little girl has learned to climb the evergreen trees in our yard.  Her tiny muscles strain as she reaches for greater heights, but she is much better at going up than coming down.  When she has reached a monumental level that one word is hollered out seeking approval, “Daddy!”  I look and smile at her accomplishment and satisfaction and know that it will not take long for the same word to burst from her lungs.  “Daaadeeey!!!!!”  This time, it is the prayer of a frantic girl who is stuck up in a tree and needs her Daddy to help her out of the situation she put herself in.

She uses that word as if she understands all the magical pull that wells up within my heart.  She will use that word throughout the day in a dozen different tones, all of which perfectly encapsulates the inseverable tie of Daughter and Daddy.   

There is the quick expectant ‘Daddy!’ as she runs to great me for lunch.  There is the near whisper as she comes in close to share a secret from her world of adventure.  There is the sassy, roll your eyes ‘Daddy’ after a joke or a tease.  And there is the call for Daddy to come and tuck her in at night and officially close the day.  Which one is my favorite?  Whenever she calls me Daddy.

As I ponder these thoughts, my mind wanders to the truth of the inseverable connection to my Heavenly Daddy.  The Bible says in Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  Abba is the Hebrew equivalent to Daddy.

As I ponder my Daddy Daughter connection, I realize, I can have a one word, lifetime conversation with my Daddy.  I know that Father’s Day can be a joy and a time of deep pain for those who have lost or never had a Daddy connection.  My heart aches for those who have lost a Daddy daughter connection, but that is what I love about my Heavenly Daddy, that because of what Christ did at the Cross, He made it possible for anyone who in faith receives the gift of salvation, to have an inseparable Daddy connection.  A connection where the God of the Universe becomes your Daddy.  “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Do you have this Daddy connection?  A connection that encapsulates a lifetime of relationship in one word.  As we approach Father’s Day, I would encourage you to think about your Daddy relationship and know that if I can be a help to you, I would love to introduce you to my Daddy.  gbcmn.com