How many of you have heard the lyrics to Bob Carlisle’s song “Butterfly Kisses”? It warms the heart of every girl and woman to feel their Daddy’s love as expressed in this song. What child wouldn’t laugh with glee and excitement as their Dad takes their hand and says, “Let’s go play?” The image a Dad portrays of strength and tenderness is held close in a daughter’s soul throughout her whole life. It’s what begins at birth and grows as she grows.

What started me thinking about father and daughter relationships was something I read from Marianne Williamson’s new book, The Age of Miracles. She says:

“As long as we think our biological parents fundamentally sourced us, we’ll feel the need to distance ourselves from them because on some level, we know it’s not true. When we see that in fact they’re simply fellow souls who gave us a tremendous gift by bringing us into this world, then (hopefully) did their best to take care of us and raise us right, we realize the significance of the debt we owe them. Understanding that God is our true Father/Mother, and all humanity our brothers and sisters, counterintuitively delivers us to a more, not less, respectful attitude toward our biological family. Knowing more deeply who they are in our lives – and who they aren’t – frees us to love them more.”

The relationship we have with our Dads transfers to the kind of spiritual relationship we have with Father God. What if this human relationship fell short, would it reflect how we look to our Creator?

Several of us in the blogging community have been talking about stories and if the stories we tell are truly serving us or not. I talked about stories in a different perspective in my last post, “Plain Talk” but as I read this passage from Marianne Williamson I realized that, in part, this is a story I’ve been telling. The story of seeing God through the filters of who I saw in my father. My Dad would show his love at times but had his own human issues to process and work through while he was alive and I translated those issues into the way I viewed God. I realized that I really didn’t know God as a Father. As I reflected on this, I felt a shift and the old beliefs and false truths dropped away and I felt the beginning of a new spiritual relationship with a loving Father.

What kind of relationship do you have with your Dad? Were you Daddy’s little girl? If you were, you were blessed with a joy all children should know. I hope you will come to realize, as I have, what a blessing it is to have a human father to impart their love in the best way they know how and for being a part in bringing me into this world. Though I know my Dad loved me, I shouldn’t let it determine the kind of love our Heavenly Father can express. Realize the pure love God has to share with you that it is everywhere – all the time – and picture Him giving you butterfly kisses after your bedtime prayer.

From the kitchen table – Pat
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