A Fatherless Fathers' Day
Facing my first holiday without my dad
My dad is gone and there's a hole
within my heart and in my soul.
A hole that no one else can fill
though countless memories try.
And though my dad has passed away,
I'll try to celebrate a day
that by its name assumes you have
a father in your life.
I'll stop to visit at his grave,
sift through old birthday gifts I gave,
flip pages in an old scrapbook
with photos of us two.
I'll pen a poem ‘bout this man
who told me "Don't give up. You can
accomplish anything you want
if you will just believe."
Then after supper guests will boast
about their dads, but I will toast
the man who won't be here this year
to grace us with his smile.
I'll thank the Lord for giving me
a dad who passed on faith to me
And as I see his empty chair,
my heart will fill with joy.
* My dad died on November 4, 2008 after a fourteen-year battle with cancer. My latest book "Sunday Rhymes and Reasons" is dedicated to him.
Abba Father, We Adore You
In celebration of our ultimate Father's day
Abba Father, we adore You.
We Your children sing Your praise.
You are worthy to be trusted,
merciful in all Your ways.
Lifting us when we have stumbled,
holding us when we are weak,
whispering how much You love us
when our shame won't let us speak.
Abba Father, we are grateful
for the gift of Christ Your Son
in Whose death and resurrection
life eternal was begun.
You adopted us as family,
deemed us worthy of Your love
and You promised to provide us
with the joys we've long dreamed of.
Abba Father, we acknowledge
how much we depend on You
when blind-sided by misfortune,
when we don't know what to do.
Your perspective bids us focus
on faith's outcomes we can't see.
And Your unrelenting comfort
calms our raw anxieties.
tune: Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee