Fathers are Needed

The Father's Day celebrations are going on in the music room as we speak and a lovely 'speech' has just been made by a charming lady with a southern drawl. Y'all just read what she had to say, y'hear. !


"Psalms 127:3-5 - "Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court."(NIV)

We celebrate Father’s Day this week and I thought I would take some time out of my homesteading schedule to talk about the significant role my daddy played in my life:)  My good friend Amfortas asked me if I would give a little speech here and I am much obliged to take him up on his request.  So sit back, have some Community Coffee, take off the PC glasses, sit down on your back porch rocking chair and come back with me to the southern bayous for awhile.

One of my earliest memories of my childhood with my daddy was the first time he took me out shooting, when I was four.  He wanted to show me what a firearm could do, so he pulled out his .22, threw up a bunch of marbles and shot them all before they could hit the ground.  (true story)  My father was an excellent shot, he had a lot of practice from his early childhood hunting in the woods.

But contrary to what you might think, he wasn’t doing that to show off.  He wanted to show me that a firearm wasn’t a toy, it was very powerful and something to be respected.  It worked, I still remember it to this day very well.  This may seem strange to some people outside of the deep south in the Bible Belt but it isn’t so strange for fathers to show both their sons AND daughters how to use a firearm, hunt and fish and love the outdoors. 

He was a typical southern man, hardworking, G-d fearing, a gentleman, a loving husband, son and father.  He was far from perfect.  But I learned a lot of things from my father and I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today had he not been such an active part in my life. 

There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t hear the words, “I love you” or “You are beautiful baby girl and I am proud of the women you have become” from my daddy. 

Girls need to hear that from their father.  They need a strong positive male role model to show them how to relate to the men in their life...and someday, her husband.  My daddy was not a perfect man, but no man is.   

The feminists try to tell women that daughters don’t need a father.  They try to tell us fathers aren’t important and men aren’t needed in our homes or lives. 

Thanks to him, I know who I am.

I am not going to sit and re-hash the facts on fatherless homes and the devastating effects it has on a child.  But they are staggering and considered an epidemic in my country now.   I believe nature requires BOTH a man and a women to create a child for a good reason.  Because they both play a vital role in the upbringing of a child. 

My Daddy also had a sense of humor.  I remember one time I had a solid black bunny bunny that I showed for 4-H (one of my favorites).  All of a sudden the bunny went angry on me!  It turned from a sweet bunny to a possessed bunny overnight!  I am not kidding. 

After about a month of trying to cuddle with it and it attacking me every time I got close to the cage, I remember telling Daddy that I thought something was wrong with my bunny!  I was only about 11 at the time.  Finally, Daddy turned to me with this perplexed look on his face and he decided to spill the beans!  He gently told me that his hunting dogs, Smith and Wesson (yes those were their real names) broke into my bunnies cage and and put him to rest!  So before I came home he went out and bought a “replacement” bunny (solid black like the first one) and put it into the old ones cage so I wouldn’t be devastated about my poor 4-H bunny! 

 Daddy knew how sensitive I was and he couldn’t bare the thought of seeing me cry over it.  Needless to say I burst into tears and started wailing when he told me what happened and demanded he show me where he buried my poor bunny.  The problem was there was no grave because the dogs ate the bunny. (True story, no kidding)

Everybody always laughs when I tell them that story for some reason.  I could go on and on about the memories I have about my father.  But there were a lot of things I learned from Daddy: how to treat a man- for one and that fishing CAN make a hard day a bit easier.

But he led by example, he worked hard.  The land Daddy lives on now has been in my family for over 100 years.  There is an old grave yard on that land.  Some of my relatives are buried there.  He showed me the importance of family roots and without him in my life to show me that, I would only know one half of myself.  Thanks to him, I know who I am.  It took me leaving my roots to realize how unique my upbringing was in a lot of ways.  I miss that man sometimes.

Feminists try to tell us Daddys aren’t important to us...they aren’t needed, they say. I have also heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words.

This is a picture of a bride on her wedding day stopping to see her recently deceased father before she went to the church. 

Daddys are needed in our lives.  So I say to all the good fathers out there, “Thank you,” and you know who you are, this picture says the rest.


When this 'Southern Belle' sat down, her voluminous skirts surrounding her, she heard rapturous applause.

Then, to cap off the evening, this. (Words below)

The winter may pass and the spring disappear
The spring disappear
The summer too will vanish and then the year
And then the year
But this I know for certain: you'll come back again
You'll come back again
And even as I promised you'll find me waiting then
You'll find me waiting then
Oh-oh-oh ....

 

God help you when wand'ring your way all alone
Your way all alone
God grant to you his strength as you'll kneel at his throne
As you'll kneel at his throne
If you are in heaven now waiting for me
In heaven for me
And we shall meet again love and never parted be
And never parted be!

 



This is particularly for fathers and daughters who are parted. I am old and when I was a King I was a father to a Princess.  She went away.

 

Today my thoughts, my heart, is with her.  I play this for her. 

 

My Little Petal. The new Herzeloyde.  My Heart's Sorrow.