walk a little straighter, daddy

"Walk a little straighter, Daddy.  You're leading me..."

it's an old song that tells the story about a boy whose father is drinker...  he drinks to get drunk, and makes the boys's life miserable.  the song is pretty powerful.  as the boy grows towards manhood, he pleads with his dad to "walk a little straighter."

my dad would be gone for weeks at a time, leaving my mom home with little babies to care for.  later on, my stepfather would get off work late at night, getting home hours after his shift was over.  i knew when he got home, though, because he bounced from one side of the hallway to the other, all the way to his room.  (i guess he thought it was funny.  i didn't.)  neither set of footprints led anywhere i wanted to go.  sadly, i did plenty of "trippin' and stumblin'" until i came to know Jesus.

i shared this with a friend...

there's a Dad whose footsteps are reliable every single day. the Bible says that God's word is a lamp to our feet, and a light for our path. it also says that He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. i'm kinda' glad that the father i had on earth wasn't perfect... (it took me a long time to come to that)... if it wasn't for my father's crooked path, i might not have had the eyes to see the absolute perfect path of my Heavenly Father.

i love how the song ends... the boy, now a man, has determined in his heart to walk a different path than the one his father made for him. that happened to me when i was younger, too. i was sure i'd do things differently.  it wasn't until i came to know Jesus, though, that i was really able to make good on that goal.  i don't always do things perfectly. but, with the help of my Heavenly Father, i have hope that i'm doing it better each day.