The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24–26
I’ve said these words from Numbers over a church congregation, but I’ve never intentionally said them over my daughter.
They are words of blessing and peace, but I often think of them as something to be said in a church service, not in the course of everyday life.
Today, my daughter and I spent some quality time together as she practiced riding her bike down our country back road. She was scared of falling, so I spent the first part of the ride giving her pep talks.
“You can do it!”
“Keep pedaling!”
It was going to be a long ride for her and me if I had to keep that up the entire time.
So I turned to something I know she loves: music.
I wanted to change her mood instantly, so I started with a song I knew she would like: Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
She sang the chorus with glee.
“They just wanna! They just wanna!”
A five year old on a bike is a girl who definitely wants to have fun.
Then we queued up “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” from the Dirty Dancing soundtrack. This song of romantic fulfillment also brought a smile to her face.
The ride was more than halfway over. She was doing well, so I let her pick the next song.
She chose one of her standbys, “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from The Trolls movie soundtrack. She sang the lyrics to the verse and chorus as loud as pedaling five-year-old could.
With about 10 minutes left in our ride, I saw her joy.
At that moment, however, I wanted her to connect that joyful experience with more than just “feel good” songs. I wanted her to see how that joy’s source was God, and that the greatest joy comes in knowing, feeling, and expressing God’s love.
Earlier in the day, I had been in the car with her for a commute to work and had played the song “The Blessing.” The song is built around the words of Numbers 6.
She had heard the song before, but today it was different. Maybe it was that I sang along to it. Maybe it was seeing the live video of a congregation singing “Amen” in unison. Whatever the reason, by the end of the song, she was singing along with the song’s “Amen” chorus. At several points that day, in fact, I had heard her humming it.
So as we ended her bike ride, I put on the song, and we sang along to the chorus.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-men!”
When we reached the bridge, I sang even louder. She joined me. The words to the bridge are great:
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family
And your children
And their children
And their children
By the end of the ride, Catherine was singing this too, a tremendous blessing to me and a provocation to be more intentional about letting her see the joy of God in everyday .
In short, the song expresses what I pray for her: that God would be before, behind, beside, all around, and within her.
God is for her, and I will do my best to be the earthly father that points her to her Heavenly Father.