When God Became My Daddy
Songs have been written about it; poems have been penned; dances have been danced, celebrating the special bond between father and daughter. I believe that every one of us has an innate longing and desire for that deep relationship with that special man. I have heard that many of us form our view of God by observing our earthly fathers. While that may be true, often, if we look to any human being to form our ideas of our Heavenly Father, we will be deeply disappointed.
The greatest gift my earthly father gave me was to point me to my Heavenly Father. The greatest gift I can give my father for Father’s Day is to live my life for the One who gave His life for me.
From the womb, I was in church at least three times a week and in every children’s club the church had to offer, hearing Bible stories and memorizing scripture. Sadly, too often, my early childhood memories of going through the motions of playing church bring with them anxiety and sometimes a bit of panic. I wasn’t good at remembering my Sunday school papers or saying my memory verse on demand. This led to unwarranted and unreasonable punishment. In hindsight, my dad was probably more worried that I would embarrass him, or he was worried that someone would think he was not doing his job as a father properly if I did not perform as the “good girl” I needed to be.
Miraculously, the Holy Spirit instilled a desire deep in my heart to love the Father and form an innocent and pure relationship that superseded any earthly or fallible human relationship. Long before I took my shiny patent leather shoes down the isle in children’s church and prayed with Mrs. Katie Tunnel to give my heart to Jesus, I understood that God loved me, that He created the world for me, and that because of our own bad choices that world needed a savior. I knew that I needed someone bigger than this world to be my daddy. So, on that Easter Sunday in 1969, when Mrs. Tunnel asked who wanted Jesus to be their Savior, I marched my timid, shy self to the front of the room, wondering why nobody else wanted this precious gift. I knew about the death, burial, and resurrection. I definitely knew about sin. I even knew how to pray “Dear Heavenly Father.” But that day, He became my Daddy. And He is a “Good Good Father”
My name is Keri Willis. I am a semi-retired educator. I spent a great deal of my career working with adults with developmental disabilities and many years in elementary education, in the classroom and as an administrator. My main ministry now is coordinating the women’s ministry for our church in San Diego, CA. I have been married thirty-four years and have two grown and married children. I now have a head of full grey hair and good ideas.
I believe we are created to use our gifts and to be creative. That comes in many forms for me. I love to woodwork and use power tools, design, decorate, garden, and create new recipes. And I love to write. One major lesson I have learned in my writing journey is that I need to be still and listen to hear God’s voice before I am prepared to put into words the message he has instilled in my heart. This has been much easier since I am no longer working full time, but it is so easy to get distracted and not listen, which almost always ends with an empty page in the form of writer’s block.
While I have written many articles for newsletters and local newspapers, I did not consider myself a writer until I self-published my first book, Teapots and Power Tools. https://www.amazon.com/Teapot…/dp/1466458763/ref=sr_1_3…
The idea emerged as I was working on a project in my garage. I had worship music playing, power tools out and saw dust flying. I glanced up and saw my delicate teapot sitting on my router table. The message was clear. Sometimes we are using the power tools God gives us and sometimes he just wants us to be still and have tea with him. The book became the foundation for a women’s retreat, and then my amazing niece helped me work through publishing it on Create Space (now KDP).
At least five other projects are in different stages of production. I joined hope*writers to help motivate me and keep me focused and accountable. I am still trying to figure out the whole website and blog thing. That is my next goal for myself; that and finish writing at least one of my projects!
Teapots and Power Tools: Effectively using the tools God has equipped you with, while taking time to “Be Still and Know That He is God”
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