A Daddy’s Girl

Abba, My Daddy

Yesterday was Father’s Day, and throughout the day I found myself thinking about a little girl who wanted a daddy so badly.

My biological father left my mother before I was born. Growing up, my brother and starting spending summers with our grandparents, and I believe I was around eight or nine years old when I first visited the farm and my father in prison. I knew who he was, but there was still a deep ache in my heart. I wanted a daddy. I wanted to be cherished. I wanted to know what it felt like to be somebody’s little girl. I would watch movies and see daughters laughing with their fathers, and something inside me would long for what they had.

Years later, when I was twenty-one years old and living in Oceanside, California, I met Jesus. Everything changed. I fell in love with the One who loved me first. Not long after I moved back home, I began attending church and growing in my relationship with the Lord. I loved His presence, His Word, and the way He gently revealed His heart to me. I loved that I could hear him and I knew He was listening to me. 🕊️

One Sunday, our church had a guest speaker. At the end of the service, people gathered around the altar to pray. I found myself on my knees, worshiping the Lord and telling Him how much I loved Him. Tears streamed down my face as His presence filled the room. It is difficult to describe, but He felt so near. My heart was completely open before Him. I believe I was 23 at that time.

As I knelt there worshiping, a question rose up from a place much deeper than my thoughts. It came from the little girl inside me who had carried that longing for so many years.

“Lord, why didn’t You give me a daddy?”

The words came out through tears.

“I wanted a daddy so badly.”

Then I heard His voice in my spirit, so gentle and so full of love.

“I have been with you your entire life.”

As He spoke, I began seeing glimpses of my life…moments from childhood, my teenage years, and seasons I had long forgotten. It was as though He was showing me that He had been there all along. In every hurt, every disappointment, every lonely moment, He was there. He had never left me.

Then He spoke again.

“I am your Daddy.” ❤️

In that moment, something inside me healed. I opened my eyes…

The ache I had carried for so many years met the love of a Father who had been faithfully walking beside me my entire life. The little girl who had spent years longing for a daddy suddenly realized she had one all along.

The Bible says, “And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, and now we can call God our dear Father.” (Galatians 4:6 TLB)

Abba…Daddy….

Not distant. Not absent. Not unaware of our tears. A loving Father who knows our name and sees every chapter of our story.

Looking back now, I can see His fingerprints everywhere. Even in the seasons when I felt alone, I wasn’t. Even when I couldn’t see Him, He was there. The truth is, I was never fatherless. I simply had not recognized the One who had been loving me all along.

Maybe you’re reading this today and you know that ache. Maybe part of your heart still longs for the love of a father. If that’s you, I want you to know what He showed me that day: there is a Father who sees you, knows you, and has never left you. He has been walking beside you far longer than you realize. Call out to Him!

And perhaps, if you quiet your heart for just a moment, you may hear the same whisper that changed my life…

“I have been with you your entire life. I am your Daddy”

A Daddy’s Girl ❤️