Show & Tell:
Photograph of Me and Daddy
This is a photograph of me and my dad. It was taken way back when I was only two years old. My dad has been one of the greatest impacts on my life. Ever since I was little he always taught me to be an obedient little girl and often reminded me of who I am and whose daughter I belong to. I am my Father's daughter. I've made a handful of mistakes in my life already, and some of them I will remember for the rest of my life because of what my dad did to teach me right from wrong.
When I was in third grade, I got in trouble with two other friends for taking the victim's pencil case and hiding it somewhere in the school. I wasn't the one who came up with the idea, I just laughed and thought what my friends did was funny; however, when the principal found out, she called all three of us into her office and scolded us. I felt useless. None of us considered what we did as stealing, but the principal did. When I got home, the first thing I heard was my dad asking me how my day was. Thankfully, the principal didn't call my parents to tell them what happened, so that was probably why my dad didn't seem upset or anything. So I answered my dad, “It was fine.” My dad is such a smart man. He could tell that something wasn't right by the tone of my voice, so he asked me again, “How was your day?”, and for the second time, I hid my wrongdoings and said the exact same thing. My dad simply nodded and went back to his reading while I went in my room and quietly shut the door.
I couldn't believe what my dad did, as if he didn't care at all. I sat in my room with silence just thinking about the tiring school day, and decided that I needed to tell someone about this. A few moments later, I broke the quietness of my room, opened the door and slowly walked to where my dad was. I hesitated for a while, but I went on telling him what happened at school that day anyways. My dad wasn't mad at what I did; however, he punished me in a very odd way. Instead of lecturing me or beating me with a belt, like other parents do to make kids obey, my dad got his belt out, wrapped it around one hand and started to hit his other hand. I was wondering why he didn't hit my hands, and before I started to weep, he asked if I knew what he was doing. I shook my head and faced the floor. My dad looked at me and said, “You are my daughter, you are God's daughter, I am your father, God is our father, we do not steal, we do not take what belongs to others. You should have known better, but it was my responsibility to teach you that, and I didn't do a good job, so do you understand why I'm hitting my own hand?” Without a word, I silently nodded and wept. I gave my dad a hug and told him how sorry I was and it was one of those memories I know I will never forget, because I really learnt something that day.
My dad is an excellent teacher, he's really good with explaining things. Whenever I don't understand certain things—whether it's about homework, life or even Christianity—my dad is really good at explaining them to me. Once, when I was in grade seven, I was cyber bullied by a group of my “friends” because I'm a pastor's kid and I wasn't allowed to do many of the things my friends did. Anyways, I felt extremely horrible, betrayed and hated. I honestly did not understand why my friends would suddenly ignore me and tease me gossip behind my back on the internet. This happened throughout most of my grade seven school year, it became a habit for them to continue making things up and for me to accept it.
As soon as I got off of school, I would get home as soon as possible and run to my room and have my quiet space and just think, reflect and sometimes if the day got too rough, I would cry until my mom gets home from work and she would hug me tightly and tell me everything was going to be fine. Although I'm pretty tight with my mom, I always felt like I have a special connection with my dad, different from the way my mom and I get along. I don't know why, but whenever I get into terrible situations like such, I would go to my dad for advice first. The love of a father is great, but the love of a Father in Heaven is the greatest. Full of knowledge, my dad explained to me that innocent people suffer too, like Jesus. He died on the cross to save us, but before that, he was crucified and teased at, and people lied about him. My dad kept reminding me that when I feel useless and hopeless, Jesus had suffered even more, and because Jesus suffered for us, we have forgiveness. I never forgot about this and I hope I will never forget, because this was another great lesson I learned from my dad. After the advices and reminders my dad gave me, I slowly and painfully learned to forgive those who betrayed me, let go of what lies in the past and renewed the friendship with that group of friends and till this day we are closer than ever! Years passed by, as I grew older, my dad always told me how proud he is of me, from being a bully at school to being bullied online to knowing what it means to forgive others.
My dad also taught me that life is just a short period of time compared to eternity in Heaven. Back home, I usually have a lot of questions about faith and Christianity, so I would constantly ask my dad questions like: where do people really go after they die? Or why people such hypocrites? Sometimes my dad would answer me with a question, and sometimes he would literally explain it to me.
This photograph really brings back a lot of the lessons my dad taught me and his love for me. My dad is truly one of the greatest inspiration and role-model to me, he's taught me right from wrong and constantly reminded me of forgiveness and that there's something so much better lying ahead of my life. He's been there for me through thick and thin, and I love my dad so much. But the one that I should really thank is Jesus, if He didn't die on the cross to save our sins, there would never be forgiveness.
