Dad, Are You There?
Christian podcaster and influencer, Allie Beth Stuckey, recalls an interview with Christian music superstar, Matthew West:
Christian singer Matthew West shared a powerful story about taking his daughter to camp. During an exercise, the daughters were blindfolded and the dads were told to guide them through the woods after repeating three instructions: I will never leave you. You can ask me anything. And only listen for my voice.
At first, he could guide her easily. Then the counselors signaled for him to remove his hand. He was no longer allowed to speak unless his daughter remembered she could ask him anything. Eventually, they got off track on their hike and a counselor quietly led her into a ditch without her realizing it.
After standing there blindfolded and confused, she finally asked, “Dad, are you there?”
Matthew said he teared up as he answered, “Yeah. I’m here.”
She continues:
This moment reminded him how often we forget the same truths about God: that He never leaves us, we can ask Him anything, and we need to listen for His voice.
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27, NIV).
"You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him" (Deuteronomy 13:4, ESV).
Be Salt
Table salt, sodium chloride, is a naturally occurring mineral essential for life. Salt is one of the most widely used and oldest forms of food seasoning. Saltiness is one of the five basic human tastes in addition to sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and umami.
Salt also plays a crucial role in maintaining human health. It is the main source of sodium and chloride ions in the human diet. Sodium is essential for nerve and muscle function, is involved in the regulation of fluids in the body, and plays a role in the body’s control of blood pressure and volume.
Chloride ions serve as important electrolytes by regulating blood pH and pressure. Electrolytes are compounds, often salts, which dissociate into their ionic components in solvents like water. Chloride is also a crucial component in the production of stomach acid. We secrete salt when sweating and need to replenish the lost ions through our diet.
All animals require some salt to survive.
We consume foods that naturally contain salt or add salt as a seasoning. However, some terrestrial animals have diets deficient in salt. These animals must seek supplemental salt sources. Farm animals such as horses and cattle require access to salt blocks. Wild mammals and birds are known to aggregate at natural mineral deposits known as salt licks where they can ingest the essential sodium and chloride minerals they need to survive.
We live in an environment that shows that the earth needs salt - not only naturally - but supernaturally, i.e. spiritually.
When we live as the salt He says we are, we will be used by Him to meet the earth's needs, just as salt has mutilfacted ways of blessing humanity and creation.
In a world that so desparately needs flavor, preservation, balance, and healing ... BE SALT!
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet" (Matthew 5:13, ESV).
When Daddy Leaves Us Gifts
In December 2020, 39 year old Jody Murphy passed away suddenly in his sleep.
His partner, Alex Leggatt, was only two months pregnant at the time. The two had known each other their entire lives through family friends. Their relationship started during the Covid lockdown with a first date sharing chicken nuggets in a McDonald's car park. Jody was incredibly excited to become a father and had already filled his flat with toys. Alex felt their baby's first kicks during the eulogies at Jody's funeral. She later gave birth alone. Now, ... to help him build a connection with the father he never met, Alex Leggatt maintains a yearly birthday tradition. Before they visit the cemetery in Lincolnshire, England, she places a wrapped present at the gravesite so Malone can find the gift his dad left for him. Malone brings his own gifts to the grave as well, including flowers and a Spiderman scooter, and he still asks when his daddy is coming back.
Click here to view a video of little Malone's birthday tradition.
When our Lord breathed His last on the Cross, our Father in Heaven knew we would need reminders of His great love for us until we could be united together again.
First and foremost, He sent us the Holy Spirit to indwell, guide, direct, and comfort us in His "physical" absence. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever" (John 14:16, ESV).
But on top of that, He has granted us His daily provision in countless ways, reminding us that, "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" (James 1:17, NIV).
Like little Malone, open each gift with excitement and anticipation of that wonderful day when Daddy (Abba!) will come back for us! "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13, KJV).