“He Counted His Blessings”

Gary M. Irwin

          She’s a girl scout. She’s smart. She has friends. She’s a good kid. Her daddy liked thinking like this. He liked thinking about his daughter.

            He liked remembering her birthday. Her “birth” day. She had all her fingers and toes. Everything seemed to be in the right place. She was his brand new baby daughter. Mommy and baby were doing fine. Daddy was floating around on the clouds.

            The baby grew. She grew in so many ways. She learned to walk. She learned to talk. She learned to talk some more. Then she learned to talk some more. She was always giving hugs and getting hugs. She was taking up some of daddy’s time. Daddy liked that. That’s what he was there for.

            She learned to read. She liked to read by herself. She liked to have daddy read with her. She liked to read all sorts of books. She liked to read the Bible. She liked to have daddy read the Bible with her. She liked to hear daddy tell her favorite story from the Bible. She asked questions about Christians. She was talking about being baptized.

            She liked to play. She played with Barbie dolls. She played spies. She played tag and freeze tag and hide and go seek. She was happy. Oh yes, she played kickball, too. She was sad. She laughed. She cried. She was growing up.

            Her daddy liked thinking about his big little girl. He was a little apprehensive about his responsibilities toward his big little girl. He prayed. He got some answers. He had a lot of questions. He listened to others. He made mistakes. He did some things right.