Dear Daddy, What If

What if I didn't have you, dear Daddy,
To walk just a little ahead;
To show me all the turns in the road,
So I am rightly led?

What if I never sang a song
That my Daddy had taught to me?
What if no one was there to teach
What I've learned about at your knee?

What if you never made me laugh
Or wrestled me in the floor?
What if I never watched the stars
With a Daddy I adore?

Take me along, dear Daddy.
For, I watch every step you take.
I try to follow your footsteps.
So, make them plain, for my sake.

When I see you on bended knee, dear Daddy,
When I hear you say my name in prayer ...
I know what makes you so big and so strong.
And, I pray you will always be there.

No wonder my Mommy loves you.
You're the apple of her eye!
And, I see you looking at Mommy -
Like you won the world's greatest prize!

I thank God every night for you, Daddy.
I'm the luckiest kid in the land.
For I know that you practice, in earnest,
The life of a Godly man.

When I say my prayers, dear Daddy,
I always ask Jesus to bless
My Daddy, my helper, my hero ...
Who always knows what is best.

You remind me so much of Jesus!
How'd you get to be so much like Him?
I know, if I walk in your shadow,
The Way will never be dim.

I'd like to thank you, dear Daddy.
I'd like the whole world to know
You're the best Dad a kid can come home to.
Dear Daddy, I love you so.

One day I'll be grown, dear Daddy;
Might have a child like me.
And because of your ways, dear Daddy,
I'll be the best I can be.

So, teach me your ways, dear Daddy.
Teach me the Savior's love.
Let's walk hand in hand, dear Daddy,
Toward that wonderful land above.

© by Joan Clifton Costner