"Thank Heaven for Little Girls" - Daddy's girl

 “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” – Daddy’s girl.

Maurice Chevalier sang a song called “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”. It released the year I was born and adopted by my father as our song. I was definitely a daddy’s girl. I felt safe and loved in his arms.

Scarred for life : At two years old my dad discovered a lump above my tummy button, and a trip to the doctors consequently resulted in a diagnoses of an umbilical hernia. However, he decided it did not need to be operated on straight away. My dad, frightened for me, knew that the operation would leave a scar. His ‘little girl’ would be scarred for life. The lump grew and became very unsightly. My father could barely look at it. At last, at the age of four, I had my operation.

Our Song : The evening before I went into hospital, my father held me in his arms and put on the radio. ‘Our song’ was being played. Dad danced, holding me close as he would a partner and sang along:

Each time I see a little girl
Of five or six or seven
I can’t resist a joyous urge
To smile and say
Thank heaven for little girls
For little girls get
Bigger every day
Thank heaven for little girls
They grow up in
The most delightful way.
Those little eyes
So helpless and appealing
When they were flashing
Send you crashing
Through the ceiling
Thank heaven for little girls
Thank heaven for them all
No matter where,
No matter who
Without them
What would little boys do
Thank heaven
Thank heaven
Thank heaven for little girls.

An intimate moment : Finally, as the song ended, I wiped his tears away then brushed my hand through his Brylcreem hair; the stickiness made me express my distaste for this product. Seeing dad’s distress, I hugged him hard and kissed him many times. “Don’t worry. I will be alright, Daddy.” To my delight, the dance continued around the kitchen table long after the song finished on the radio.

Cherished memory : Consequently, this memory has always been my most vivid. Hence, this intimate moment with my dad has had to last me a lifetime. Two years later, he left my life via my parent’s divorce. As a result, God had to step into the breach. He became my daddy, and I, His ‘Daddy’s girl’. He would now sing to me “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.”  And in time, He put a new song on my heart:

Deuteronomy 31:6 (NKJV)  “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

Do you have a vivid memory that has not dimmed over time or one that God has replaced to heal the previous one?

Advent Day Twenty

Father Christmas can do nothing for you.He isn't even real but an idol that is worshiped every year at this time. The only Father that can bring you a life changing present is God.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Advent Day Sixteen

There are no coincidences only the Father placing the missing piece of jigsaw in the puzzle. God knows what we need and will provide.

Come, Lord Jesus, come. 

Advent Day Eight

Everything is important to God, yes even those things we think he wouldn't be interested in. He is our Father, everything matters. 

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Consider the lilies, how they grow...

God must have had such a wonderful time designing flowers, and choosing their smell. Each is beautiful to behold and everyone unique. They make a glorious bouquet for a friend or a captivating picture in the garden. In the wild they grow freely shedding their seeds to increase the beauty of the landscape.  

                                                                                                                                                                               
How more wonderful then is his incredible care in making us. 

Luke 12:27-28

"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. "But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith!"

To imagine His hands crafting a flower that is so delicate and fragile; to give it a fragrant smell that will fill your senses with wonder, surely indicates a gentle passionate Father who delights in intricate detail born out of love.  

When an artist makes something beautiful they leave part of their very soul within that creation. 

That is exactly what God does when he creates us. Our Father in Heaven never makes a dud, he never makes a mistake. Every creation that He conceives is carefully and lovingly crafted in Heaven, then placed into the womb. We come from Heaven to earth. From Perfection to the world of imperfection. We start to die the moment we are born. Just as flowers start to wither the moment they are picked. But we can have new life when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. 

When we return to our Father in Heaven we will resume the beauty of our creator. We will become new again rooted in God's glory as a flower's roots are bathed in the nutrients and water of the earth. There will be a glow about us that is divine and pure. The glow of love that never dies.

As flowers delight us now with their innocent beauty and frailty we too can be messengers of that love. We are His bouquet to those who do not know him yet. 

When we feed ourselves with the right nutrients we glow and shine. Our nature opens up and reveals the beauty of what is within. God is what is within us. His word brings forth this Truth. Knowing the Truth unites us with God's glow of love. This love leads us to action. God's Grace waters the action and more seeds are sown for the Kingdom of God. 

There are so many beautiful flowers in this world waiting to be nurtured and nourished, turning their heads this way and that looking for the Son. The truth will set them free but only if we allow God within us to radiate our beauty. A christian who is without beauty is like a flower wilting due to lack of water and nourishment. 

God holds us tenderly in his hands, may we hold those fragile flowers in our hands as gently as he does. 

  

God bless 

Margaret