Father and Daughter

This year I have been trying to grow my relationship with God. I have renewed my meditations in the morning, am pursuing community opportunities (like small group and bible study), and trying to improve my ability to hear His voice. All in all, I definitely feel closer to God in 2009 than I did for most of 2008.

Recently, I had this great encounter where I was worn out and weary after class at 5pm and as I walked (trudged) toward the shuttle stop to take me home. Pretty regularly the shuttle will pull up when I am within eyesight but not close enough to catch it unless I run (or sometimes I'm too far to even catch it if I ran). If I miss the shuttle, then it could be up to 20 minutes until the next one arrives.

I was so worn out that day that I just prayed - "Lord, can you please hold the shuttle back until I get there, but then make it come right away so that I don't have to stand there?" I know that prayer is very "tiffani-centric" - but I also know that I can bring all my heart's requests to the throne room and the Lord can say "No" or sift through the requests, etc.

Imagine my joy and thankfulness when my very specific prayer was answered "Yes" perfectly.
As I walked up to the shuttle stop, the bus pulled up. It was amazing and I was so thankful.

As I got off the shuttle and began the walk to my apartment, the Lord reminded me of the verse in Matthew where Jesus says, "If you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give good gifts to those who love him" (Some verses have "give the Holy Spirit").

That made me think of how grateful I am - not just for God's goodness, but for the goodness of my dad. My dad is my biggest champion and cheerleader. He loves me so deeply, so good, and so thoroughly. Even though we don't always agree on religion and politics among other things, he still is interested in what I think and what I believe - he loves me unconditionally. In that way, I could not have a better representation of God's love for me - I mean, if my earthly dad loves me this much, how much more does God love me?!? Its amazing. And I rejoice.

So last night I was watching this thing on PBS honoring Paul Simon. I love Paul Simon's music; its soulful, fun, heartfelt, and rich. So I was listening and enjoying other artists doing covers of his songs. Then he came out on stage and sang a song I love "Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes" - afterward I thought, "What is he going to sing next, I wonder?"

I was surprised when he started singing a song I hadn't heard before called "Father and Daughter." But as I listened, I thought - wow, this song makes me grateful for God's love for me. Even though its a song about an earthly dad's love for his daughter, and even though the lyrics are not a perfect metaphor for what God sings over me (Zeph 3:17), it is pretty good - and it was awesome to think that not only does it pretty accurately how I feel like my dad loves me, but I loved that it could be a song that could cause me to worship my Heavenly Dad, too.

The lyrics are below. I would love to know your reaction to them. Even if you don't have the same experience with your earthly dad that I do - I am convinced that the chorus of this song represents God's love for you as his daughter (or son for that matter).

FATHER AND DAUGHTER, written by Paul Simon (I think)
If you leap awake
In the middle of a bad dream
And for a fraction of a second
You can't remember where you are
Just open your window
And follow your memory upstream
To the meadow in the mountain
Where we counted every falling star

I believe the light that shines on you
Will shine on you forever
And though I can't guarantee
Theres nothing scary hiding under your bed
I’m gonna stand guard
Like a postcard of a Golden Retriever
And never leave till I leave you
With a sweet dream in your head

I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you

Trust your intuition
It's just like going fishing
You cast your line
And hope you get a bite
But you don't need to waste your time
Worrying about the market place
Try to help the human race
Struggling to survive it's harshest night

I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you

I'm gonna watch you shine
Gonna watch you grow
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two
There could never be a father
Who loved his daughter more than I love you