Daddy's girl part 2

I came to know Jesus at a very young age. Four to be exact. I don't remember much of my life without God. Still, my relationship with Him has been on varying levels over the years. My 'faith like a child' years as a youngster where I just believed. It was simple then. God is whatever He says he is and does whatever he says that He does. That's all there was to it! 

As I grew, questions arose. Other world views presented themselves (much to the chagrin of my parens I'm sure!) I had to not only believe I had to begin to seek. Remember how fun it was to play that as a child? Hide and seek. (And on a side note, I gotta be honest, it's not as fun as a parent!) Being the hider was always the most fun. You'd be sitting in that dark closet in nervous anticipation. Half wanting to get found so that you could get out of the smelly darkness- what do people keep in those closets??!! You sneak a peak to see if they are coming closer. You can barely stand it so you let out a small noise as a hint. There they come! They're gonna find you! The closet opens and.... Found you! 123 on Janette. 

It's kinda like that with seeking God. Can you imagine being God the Father? He's sitting in that closet of Peace and He's just waiting for you to find Him in there! He lets out some still small peeps as hints hoping to lead you to Him. He's sitting there with a smile on His face waiting for you to open the door and say,"I found you! 123 on God!" He's in here everybody!!" The seeking stages are so much fun!

As I said in my last blog (hence the part 2...) my dad died nearly four years ago. The emptiness and lost feeling that came  with his death urged me to seek God in a way that I hadn't before. I knew God's Son, Jesus, and how he was my Saviour in an all encompassing way. I knew His Holy Spirit and the power and the wonder that He brings. Oddly enough, I had never really sought God out as my Father. Maybe it was because I had such a dang good one here on earth, I really don't know why but I just didn't. In my desperation I cried out to God and begged Him to reveal Himself to me as a Father! Please make that still small peep, that lightning bolt, snack me on the forehead with it- I didn't care how. I just needed a Daddy. And I found Him! Yeppers. The most amazing feeling ever is knowing that you are loved and cared for by your Heavenly Father. He held out His hand to me just like my dad used to when we would go across the road to milk the neighbours' cows. He squeezes tight when I'm scared and gently pulls when my feet get stuck in the mud (although i probably need a boot to the butt instead). Sometimes when I need it most He just wraps His arms around me and holds me. Those are good moments!

It's so good to have a Daddy! 

My dad holding me in his lap on Christmas morning. I was two.

Daddy's Girl part 1

Fewer things are more important, in my opinion, than a daughters' relationship with her Father. Daddy is there to protect you, to encourage you, to teach you, and discipline you, all the while loving you with the proudest sort of love. 

I am so blessed to say that my father was all of these things to me as a child, a teenager and even as an adult. I know not everyone can say that, so I do not take that for granted. My dad passed away July 23, 2009 after a short battle with cancer. I miss everything about having a dad. 

I always made it a point to be interested in things that he was interested in so that I could spend time with him. He worked from home on whatever business venture he was intent on at the time (there was LOTS of them!). I learned how to enjoy working in the fields, milking cows, caring for animals, butchering chickens (and yes I did actually enjoy it) chucking haybales, growing flowers and vegetables, building pallets and getting firewood. I enjoyed it because it was with him. He taught me life lessons while we worked, but mostly he just taught me to work! Inside the home he taught me that I needed to respect my elders, my parents and everyone around me. He taught me that the Bible was my life coach and Jesus my life. He taught me to be silly and enjoy life and not let circumstances define your joy. He engrained into me that money is not important. My dad didn't save for retirement or have a stockpile of inheritance cash for us kids when he passed away. In fact he told me years prior to his passing to never expect an inheritance from him because he planned to use it up helping people who really needed it. He did. I watched and learned. 

Was he perfect? Nope! Was he always right? Nope! Although he really like that joke that goes something like "once I thought I made a mistake, but I was wrong." Corny jokes. Dads have to quote them. It's like law or something. 

I miss him. I miss everything about him, imperfections and all. But now I have a daughter and my husband is her father. What an amazing thing to watch her with her dad! To see her long for his approval. To see her face light up with undeniable joy when she gets it. I love watching her try to like hockey and soccer when all she wants to do is dance. I love that she asked him to stand with her when she got baptized on fathers' day because she knew how much it would mean to him and she recognizes him as the spiritual head of our family. I love seeing her sit on his lap even though she doesn't really fit any more. I love how her eyebrows are exactly like his. I loved the incredulous look that was on his face as she made him a father. I love how proud if her he gets when he looks at her. Sometimes I get jealous that she has her dad still with her and I don't. But then I remember that I left nothing undone with my dad. I couldn't have had a closer, more meaningful relationship with him. But I still miss him. I miss everything about him...

Thankfully I have a Heavenly Father! 

My dad meeting my daughter for the first time.

Who I Am

Well, this is my first attempt at creating a blog! I thought, "I always have lots to say so this shouldn't be a problem" right? Yeah. And then you sit down and think of what am I even going to call my blog?! 

I am always sharing funny stories about things my kids say and do on Facebook and people always tell me to write them down, so I thought this might be a good way to do that. Then I started thinking... I'm a child too. Of the King of Kings. The Lord Almighty. I wonder if he shares stories about us with the angels? "Did you see what Janette did today? Man I love being her dad, she brings me such joy." Wouldn't that be great if that's what our Father God said? As a parent I am continuously in awe of the joy that my children bring me. That isn't to say I don't want to run away or lock myself in the closet never to emerge from time to time... But nevertheless the joy FAR outweighs the sorrows! I hope this is how my Heavenly Father feels about me. It's what I strive for. 

So in this blog I will be sharing a bit of my life with you: about what it means to me to be a mom and what it means to me to be a daughter of the King.