"Daddy's Hands"

 "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him."
Psalm 103:13

I mentioned in my last post that I worked on a song video recently that brought back a tsunami of memories and I promised to share about it soon. So, here goes.

In 1986, a country song called "Daddy's Hands" was released by a singer named, Holly Dunn. She wrote it about her daddy, who was a minister, and she recorded it on a cassette tape and sent it to him for Father's Day. Little did she know, at the time, that the song would go on to touch the hearts of countless listeners and eventually reach spot #7 on the "Billboard Hot Country Singles and Tracks" chart and become the song by which she is most remembered. 

From the minute I first heard the song, it resonated deeply with me. My own daddy and I learned it, and it became a song that we sang together on a regular basis. After he passed away, I didn't think I could ever bear to hear the song again, let alone sing it without him. To this day, I still tear up sometimes when I am singing it, as so many memories flood my mind.

But recently, Kevin made a wish list of songs he would like me to sing and record, and on that list was "Daddy's Hands." After 35 years of marriage and loving him with all my heart, I would do anything for Kevin. It touched my heart when I read his list, so, I decided to do the song for him, and the other day, I mustered the courage to look for photos to accompany the vocals. It literally took me almost an entire day to sort through them and put the video together, and by the time I was finished, I was emotionally and physically drained.

A little side story—a few years after Kevin and I were married, my parents went through an extremely rough patch, and they split up for several months. During that time, Mom was so hurt and went through all her photos and cut out the parts with Dad in them. When I found out what she did, it hurt me to the very core since those photos can never be replaced. But what was done was done, and I salvaged what I could of them while trying my utmost to forgive her. 

As I looked through so many photos the other day, something very interesting occurred to me. The song is about Daddy's hands, and the one part of my daddy that Mom did not cut out of many of the pictures was his hands. Why? Because she didn't want to cut me out of the photos, and my daddy's hands were holding me. Therefore, she had to leave that part of him in the photos. I can't even begin to express the feelings that washed over me, as I realized I had the part of my daddy I needed for the video for this song. And, thank the Lord, somehow a few photos survived Mom's hurt, and I actually have his face in some of them. 

It was hard narrowing down what photos to include, and one thing that pained me was to see how few I own of him and me playing music and singing together. It was such a part of our lives, but I guess we were too busy enjoying those moments to think of taking many pictures. 

The video below is the finished product. After I recorded it and listened, I realized that I left out a chord change on the word "hands" on the second "Daddy's Hands" of each chorus. It bugged me terribly, and I thought about redoing it, but Kevin assured me it was okay, so I left it the way I originally recorded it. I'm not sure why I didn't hear and correct it when I was recording it. If you know the song, you'll probably notice it, and I hope you'll overlook the discrepancies. The video is a very intimate peek into parts of my life.

I had one of the sweetest and best dads ever. He was far from perfect, just like the rest of us, but one thing I never doubted for one second was how much he loved me. He was one of the hardest-working men I ever knew, and no job was too menial for him. Though he had only an 8th-grade education, he was also one of the wisest men I ever knew. He was raised dirt poor, and he never put on airs or got above his raising. He used to tell me how when he was growing up they would feed their chickens through the holes in the floor of their homeplace. He never looked down on anyone, and I don't ever remember hearing him gossip or talk bad about anyone.  I loved his stories and cherish the fact that I come from a very humble lineage. I wouldn't want it any other way, and the lessons he taught me through his unassuming, modest life are ingrained into every single thing I do. I loved him with all my heart and miss him every single day. As stated in the lyrics of the Vince Gill song, "Go Rest High on that Mountain," I wish I could have seen the angels' faces when they first heard my daddy's sweet voice sing. He had the prettiest tenor voice and was often compared to the sound of Ira Louvin, one of his all-time favorite singers. 

One of the many projects I am currently working on is going through our cassette tapes and trying to find recordings of Mom, Dad, and me singing together. I found one a few years back of us singing "In Gethsemane Alone" and put it on my personal YouTube channel. The sound quality isn't good, but it is beyond precious to me. Here it is, in case you'd like to take a listen.

What a blessing it is to know that after our earthly fathers are gone, we have a Heavenly Father who will never die or leave us, and our Heavenly "Daddy's" hands will forever hold us in this life.

"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up." Psalm 27:10

"The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, 'Destroy them.'" Deuteronomy 33:27

He loves us so much that He left Heaven and came to Earth to stretch out His hands and allow some burly Roman soldiers to nail them to an old, rugged cross. Those same nail-scarred hands are reaching out to you now, offering hope and solace and all you will ever need.