This blog originally ran on Father's Day 2014. It's hard to believe a whole year has passed; another year of God's blessings. 

 

This is my Father’s world.

 

That line reminds me of a hymn – one I sang this morning, in fact - standing right between my mom and dad. The words to the song bring light to the fact that God – our heavenly Father – can be seen, heard and experienced through all of his creation.

 

I see it every day; nature proving to be a delightful display of divinity. Birds swoop and soar in sync – sometimes in perfect rhythm to the music I’m listening to. That may be hard for some to swallow, but I believe it to be true. There are ducks dipping into the lake to retrieve fish, deer gracefully roaming the fields and flowers stretching to the sun. I could go on and on.

 

This is my Father’s world

And to my listening ears,

All nature sings, and round me rings

The music of the spheres.

This is my father's world

He shines in all that's fair

In the rustling grass, I hear him pass

He speaks to me everywhere

 

The song brings light to my heart for yet another reason – and that’s just how much my world revolves around my dad.

 

From the time I was a little girl, I have stored vivid memories of our time and talks together. In some of those memories, he is the solo star. In others, he appears with my mom and little sister. Some are set at the drive-in movie theater; others at the beach, a state park – or our own backyard. Our family’s first yard wasn’t huge. I’ve been back to see it a handful of times since I’ve been grown. But in my memories, it is much bigger. That often happens. I guess it’s because the experiences themselves were larger than life.

 

Happy Fathers’ Day to all you dads who are creating larger-than-life memories for your children. There’s no better day than today to acknowledge my heavenly father and praise him for creation, salvation and guidance - and for placing me in the midst of this very family.

 

The Lord is king, let the heavens ring

God reigns, let the earth be glad.

 

Julie Perine can be reached at 304-848-7200, julie@connect-bridgeport.com or follow @JuliePerine on Twitter. More "It's Happening" HERE