The Lord is my shepherd.
My dad was one, too.
He guided me when I was young.
He taught me to balance
when I rode my bike
and he held me the day I got stung.

Like fathers before him,
my dad punished me.
He spanked me those times I was bad.
But when I was bullied,
he comforted me.
There is no one who cared like my dad.

When heartache and loss
found me asking God why,
my dad could be found on his knees.
Beseeching the Father
in Heaven above,
he modeled how faith is the key.

And though far from perfect,
my dad helped me see
the value of clinging to grace.
He’s left me with snapshots
of prized memories
that time cannot ever erase.