“I’m Dad’s favorite,” my nine-year-old niece told me confidently. As I laughed out loud, my husband hooked a thumb toward me and said, “No wonder you two get on so well. She was her dad’s favorite, too.”
It’s true. My father loved each of his four children equally, but he and I had similar interests. We took oboe lessons together and performed in a community ensemble. We liked strategy games. Even into his nineties, Dad and I played highly competitive games of chess. Because we spent time together, our relationship was less fraught than my siblings. I didn’t need to compete for his favor because I already had it.
Dad’s been gone for several years, but I still have one gift that reminds me of him more than anything else: my hedge clippers. Dad sent these to me for my thirty-fourth birthday. These are no ordinary clippers. They’re more like a tiny electric chain saw with a pair of high-visibility orange cutting edges. They’re lightweight and they have a special hand guard to be sure I never injure myself. Of course, these clippers have a dead man’s switch to turn themselves off if my grip falters even slightly. Dad provided me with the best possible equipment to keep me safe. When I’m working in my yard, what might look like toil to you is a delight for me, because I’m reminded of my father.
God promises to nurture and care for us, to protect us, to bring us to Him in all His glory. This Father’s Day, please remember—you are a favored child.
As we approach Father’s Day, I recognize not every woman had a kind and loving earthly father to honor or remember. Perhaps your father was a source of sadness or insecurity. I grieve that.
Most of all, I am thankful for our heavenly Father who is always available, loving, kind, merciful, and ready to meet us in prayer and in acts of service. Our Father provides each of us with the best possible equipment: his Word, church communities, Bible studies, friends, resources like Just Between Us. What I’ve learned is these spiritual tools are like my hedge clipper’s safety switch in reverse. When my grip falters, God’s tools don’t quit. They keep working, bringing me back to a place of safety, to our Lord.
Recently, I ran across Micah 4:3 as translated in The Message, “Each woman in safety will tend her own garden. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.” God promises to nurture and care for us, to protect us, to bring us to Him in all His glory. This Father’s Day, please remember—you are a favored child.
