MY DAD (for his 80th birthday)

YOU ARE MY DAD I WAS YOUR GIRL

WE LOVED AND LAUGHED YOU WERE MY WORLD

THERE WAS FISHIN’ AND CAMPIN’ AND SKI-IN’ AND WATCHIN’ TV

MIKE AND RUSS PLAYIN’ FOOTBALL

AND DONNA CHEERLEADIN’ THE TEAM

YOU ARE MY DAD I WAS YOUR GIRL

YOU MADE ME FEEL I OWNED THE WORLD

THERE WERE SPANKINS’ AND TALKIN’ AND LOVIN’ AND LECTURIN’ TOO

ALWAYS KNOWIN’ THAT YOU AND MOM

WANTED THE BEST WE COULD DO

YOU ARE MY DAD I WAS YOUR GIRL

YOU LOVED ME SO YOU WERE MY WORLD

THEN A GUY COMES ALONG TO SWEEP ME AWAY IN HIS ARMS

LIKE A WHIRLWIND CAUGHT UP IN ROMANCE;

FELL IN LOVE WITH HIS CHARMS

HOW MANY NIGHTS YOU KEPT VIGIL FOR ME?

HOW MANY TEARS WERE CRIED?

HOW MANY HURTS, HOW MANY JOYS,

HOW MANY PRAYERS APPLIED?

YOU ARE MY DAD I’M STILL YOUR GIRL

YOU BROUGHT THE LORD INTO MY WORLD

THERE’LL BE CHRISTMAS AT SHILOH

WITH PAPER RIGHT UP TO OUR KNEES

THERE’LL BE EASTER EGG HUNTS

WITH THE CANDY RIGHT UP IN THE TREES

YOU ARE MY DAD I’M STILL YOUR GIRL

THE ROMANS SEVEN BLUES

ROMANS SEVEN BLUES

S. Bentley

(sung with a traditional 12-bar blues)

It's a low-down dirty rotten cryin' shame

I always seem to keep a-sinnin'

Tell me WHO is to blame?

I really wanna be righteous

Oh Lord ya know it's true

But then my flesh creeps up and says

JUST DO WHAT YA WANNA DO!

I'm doin' the don'ts

I'm blowin' the do's

I'm singin' the Romans Seven Blues



LINES (on Aging)

Thoughts on aging (since I'm coming to understand it REALLY well)

Spent some time with a woman the other day
I saw something so beautiful there
There were lines when she smiled that stayed when she stopped
from years of laughter and joy
There were lines on her lips from kissing her loved ones
& lines of concern between her brows

Now I know in this world they say lines are not good
They pay dearly to chase them away
But the lines on her face meant a lifetime of love
Oh those lines were so beautiful to me

Met an elderly man just the other day
whose wife & children I’ve known
They love him so much for he’s cared for them well
And enjoys them so much now they’re grown
Then I looked at his hands, his weathered old hands
and saw something so beautiful there
There were lines on his hands that showed he’d worked hard
There were scars where the tools of his trade left their mark
And a ring that had been there for 45 years
A gift from the bride of his youth

Now the world would dispose of a man who is older
With hands that no longer work well
But he’d sacrificed them serving those who he loved
Oh those lines were so beautiful to me.

Now I look in the mirror and strangely I see
That the very same thing is happening to me
There are lines on my face & lines on my hands
And a heart that loves deeper than I almost can stand
They are testimonies of a life lived for You Lord
Of loving your children & living Your Word
May the lines on my face be the signs of Your grace
May these lines be so beautiful to You

So once upon a time I wasn't sure if I had anything to say that mattered.