This morning, I was driving around running errands when the song “Good Good Father” came on the radio & the Lord began to show me things & told me to go get my guitar out of storage (my life is in storage as we are living in a camper while we build) & play it for Father’s Day at church. I haven’t played in years. I have no calluses on my little fingers (if you know you know). As I am writing this I am waiting to hear back if they can work me into the service. but despite all this I know God will make a way.

When I was a little girl singing in a Southern Baptist church pew in my tiny hometown in southern IL, my grandpa leaned over to me & asked what I wanted for my birthday. I looked to the man playing the guitar on the stage & told him I wanted a guitar. That moment is forever burned in my memory. I remember thinking I would never get that gift because I am one of nine grandkids. I really truly did not believe I would actually get what I had asked for.

My Papaw showed up to my house that birthday with a guitar. I couldn’t believe it & will never forget it. My grandpa proceeded to tell me that he would be taking me to guitar lessons every week. & he did! I hold dear that alone time with my Papaw. He would often take me for cheeseburgers and milkshakes after my lessons & we always listened to Tim McGraw’s “Where the Green Grass Grows” on our drive. My grandpa took me to lessons for a long time. I wasn’t very good & it took me a long time to get the hang of it. But my grandpa never gave up on me.

As a teenager I finally got the courage to play in church thanks to my youth pastor who played with me often and helped get me out of my shell, my father who encouraged me (pushed me constantly) to play & sing in church & of course my papaw for getting me started with the instrument & lessons. You would hardly find me without my guitar in my high school years. I took it with me everywhere! friends’ houses, camping, school, church, I played and sang anywhere and everywhere.

I don’t play that often anymore & throw around excuses as to why I can’t. But today when I dug my guitar & ukulele out of storage & started to play, it was just like riding a bike… & all of these memories came flooding back of my father, papaw, & many father figures in my life. How they guided me, encouraged me, & loved me (& how they still do). & how they ultimately mirrored the love of my Heavenly Father, constantly pointing me toward THE Father who would never leave me in this life. Like they knew I wouldn’t have them forever in this life… I am so thankful for all my earthly father figures.🥹

*Please join me in praying for my papaw as he is starting Chemo soon*

Which brings me to the Father’s Day holiday –

Father’s Day has always been a difficult holiday for me ever since my father passed away unexpectantly right before Father’s Day 2013. I planned to play my guitar & sing his favorite song at his funeral & my youth pastor/father figure gifted me a Taylor guitar to play at his funeral. He said he wanted me to have something nice to play to honor my father. This guitar & I have been inseparable ever since. With all of this said, this is really a full circle moment for me for so many reasons. I am overwhelmed with so many emotions like joy, heartache, love, & gratitude. If I do end up playing my guitar & singing this Sunday at church, I know that it goes so much deeper than all this on a spiritual level & I can’t wait to see what God has in store & pray He uses my guitar & voice & my life as a whole to point others to Him & Him alone.

This Father’s Day whether you are celebrating with or without your earthly father/father figure(s), remember & honor your Heavenly Father who loves you & guides you & made a way for you to come back to Him through Jesus Christ. Let this be our focus & reason for celebrating today & every day.

For all of you out here hurting on this earthly holiday just remember that we have a good good Father who loves us so much & makes a way for us to reconcile Himself to us despite ourselves. & that is worth celebrating and praising this Father’s Day & every day!

Don’t fall into the enemy’s trap of lies. He wants the pain of this fallen world to overcome us & to separate us from our good good Father. To keep us feeling sorry for ourselves & to take the focus off God. I rebuke all his lies & schemes in the name of Jesus.

You are deeply loved in such a way that is unexplainable & uncomprehendable to this fallen world. By the grace of God, we can show others this love because of Him that is within us.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that^[a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:7-12

 ⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. ⁶ So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.^[b] 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. ⁸ He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:5-8

Happy Father’s Day today & every day💛

kortney sue