My Father Can Be Your Father!ናሙና

PAYDAY

My daddy was at retirement age when my mother discovered they were pregnant for me. He was 63. Age, to a toddler and small child, does not resonate. I knew I was loved, and a normal kid! Most little kids don’t remember their parents having a social security check arrive in the mail. It seemed the 3rd of the month always became the family’s banking and grocery shopping day!

That was always a happy day in my family of 5; me being the youngest of the three children.  I remember riding in the back seat and my daddy singing little ditty lyrics. I remember grocery shopping with him, as way back then he took the lead for mama and helped in that way.

After retirement, he had to figure out another way to make ends meet, so he opened a little saw filing shop at our home. As I think about it now, he was way ahead of his time, as today many companies were forced by COVID to have their employees work from home, and now it is a new norm!

My parents named me and my sister’s first names, after their friend’s children who lived in our hometown. I was never fond of my name ‘Norma Jean' and often wondered if I had been named someone else if that would have had a bearing on who I would become. All I knew growing up, is that I was ‘daddy’s little girl.’ Later I realized our name doesn’t have a bearing on who we become. Our mindset on how we receive things does.

A father on earth is to be the image of our heavenly Father who loves us unconditionally and boy did I feel that kind of love. As a child in kindergarten every night after the evening meal, Daddy would tell me the stage was mine. I remember like yesterday standing beside the old kitchen stove singing and acting out two childhood songs: “I’m a little teapot” and the “Teensy Weensy Spider.”  

That being said, my brother, sister, and I were raised to respect not only our parents but all elders. We had that awe of respect, knowing we were loved, yet knowing if we were disobedient and got out of line, that we would be lovingly brought back into line. Sometimes the results of disobedience were not fun, but we knew it was right!

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him."  Psalm 103:13

My Daddy was the one who got up in the middle of the night when I was sick and if I had a chest cold, he would lovingly apply a Liberdol (Comparable to a Mustard) Plaster, on my chest to ease the congestion. Don’t think for a moment, mama didn’t care, but my dad was the son of a country doctor, so he had these homemade remedies that kept us out of the doctor’s office all my growing years.

CAN YOU RELATE?

It is the month of June and during this month we celebrate Father’s Day. Not all people have a great experience with the love of a dad present in a home and to me, this is so sad. I was truly blessed to have a man in my life that resembled a heavenly Father’s guidance. As we continue this study, we will learn that age, money, and fame, have nothing to do with how much we are loved. 

A TIME TO REFLECT:

1. Were you named after another person?

2. Did you feel a daddy’s love when you were a child?

3. Did you have a good relationship with your father?

4. If you didn’t, did anger become a part of who you are?

5. It isn’t our name that causes us to be who we are, it is our mindset. 

Follow along with me, to change how you perceive who says, “You are Mine!”