How great you truly are. There are no words to explain the depths of my love and gratitude for you. Happy Fathers Day to the greatest Father of them all. Without you I would not exist. Without your love I would not be able to make it through life. Thank you for bringing me into this world and into the family you placed me in. Thank you for my sweet mom and dad and my dear brother, Paul. I feel the weight of the coming responsibility of being his caretaker. I will guard him until i no longer have breath.
Getting to know you, Abba, has been exhilarating. There are so many precious moments shared with you and special times in worship that are too numerous to mention. In those quiet times you have spoken to me, healed and delivered me, chastened me, and poured out your tangible love on me.
There have been times when you were so large I couldn't miss you and then there were other times where I really had to seek and find you. I think you really like to play hide and seek like a Dad does with his child. Sometimes, it has not been hard to find you at all and other times, oh my, you sure were hidden well. Ah, but when I would find you it was such a relief and joy.
When I was searching everywhere for love and did not know you yet, you never let me stray too far away. It was you who would not allow me to do certain jobs, and shows, deliberately blocking my path and keeping me from total destruction. Even when bad relationships ended up in breaking my heart, you always sent someone with compassion. You were and are a protective, compassionate, Father.
When I got tired of the ways of the world and began to seek you, you made yourself to be found.
It was if you were waving your hands and saying I'm over here. You made sure that I couldn't miss you. When I asked for one falling star as a sign to whether I should give my life to you, you didn't just show one..you showed 17 over the span 10 days. I have only seen 2 more in the 30 years that have passed. How did you do that ? 17 falling stars! It was as if you were throwing them through the sky to me. It had to be timed so precisely to catch when i was looking. Amazing!
6 months later, on the night that i was filled with the Holy Spirit, you showed up in a new way. I felt like I had just been plugged into a giant electrical socket when my pastor prayed with me to recieve the Holy Spirit. Going to sleep that night was not going to be easy with all that power going through my body. I remember that feeling of knowing that you were living inside me and when i went to sleep I had the most incredible experience. Waves and waves of your love came pouring over me like an ex-ray machine (for lack of better words). I cannot tell you how beautiful that was that you did that for me. It was so healing.
Thank you for my beautiful children and husband. They have been an incredible blessing to me. Thank you for all the times you stepped in and filled in the gaps where i was inadequate.
In my greatest sorrows and disappointments you were there with your sweet Holy Spirit. In losing my Mom and my baby son Jeremy you brought joy back into my life and new beginnings of teaching many kids how to sing and act. You taught me the meaning of your sovereignty and trusting in you. When you chose not to heal Jeremy, you revealed to me you were still greatly pleased with me that I believed you could. It was just not your will..You were sovereign. You were faithful to not let guilt rule my life.
You carried me through the horrible season of my husbands betrayal. I found it so hard to continue on every day. And yet you sent new people in my life to watch and care over me. A handful of former friends remained with us through that hard time, while other friends were removed from our lives. In those times when I could not trust my husband, you became my husband. Almost 20 years have passed and our marriage is restored because of your unfailing love.
After my mom, passed away, it was a difficult transition taking care of him. In that difficult time, I had to give up my newly found freedom with my friends. You were right there with me, making sure Paul was not being neglected. You knew all along I would have to feed my Dad when he came to pick him up at the end of the day. You knew that as I fed my Dad, a long lost relationship with my Dad would be healed and re-established. During this dinner time, I would sit with him and we would share about our day. I greatly miss those times. It felt like for the first time in my life, my Dad was on my side. I knew it was your hand behind all this, because no one else could have so masterfully orchestrated that. Thank you.
My hearts desire has always been to sing. Even though it was not in your will for me to do it through the worlds way, you have given me a multitude of opportunities to sing on various platforms. Some of my greatest shared moments with you have been singing in nursing homes, hospitals and on deathbeds. Boy do you ever show up in a big way. Thank you so much for the chance to also do musical theatre. I think my favorite times with you have been in worship, recording at home, when its just me and you, soaking in your presence. It feels like I am singing to an audience of one. It's as if you descend into my house and just sit awhile and listen. What an honor to sing for the creator of the universe. Thank you for the all the times you have healed my voice and brought it back when i thought it was gone. My desire is to always use it to praise and worship you.
Another fond memory is the night i was very ill and i couldn't go to sleep and a thought popped into my head to ask you to tell me a bedtime story and you did. What a beautiful story. It brought healing with it because the next day I was no longer ill.
You have enabled me to do things I thought i would never be able to do. Some of these things I was dead set against doing and yet not only did I do them, I grew to love doing like teaching, cooking, sewing, playing golf and tennis, being married and having children. It was only by your grace and prodding that i could do any of these things.
Thank you my Father, for loving and always being there for me, even in the times I was not aware of you. Happy Fathers Day. I love you so much.
Your daughter,
Rita / Segullah
Below are 2 songs that I recorded this week. You deserve the glory is a live recording that my husband did 2 years ago when we were worshipping at home. It took all this time to record my voice to it. The second song, Lords Prayer, was first recorded in 1981, but the recording has deteriated over the years, so I rerecorded it that last week with new vocals.
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