At Daybreak I Dance With My Daughter

When Was It Written
This article was written for the October 22, 2006 worship guide, but the poem at the end of the article was written several months before. 

Who Wrote It
Kevin Wood, Pastor

AT DAYBREAK I DANCE WITH MY DAUGHTER
This week, I got a sad email from an old friend. Michael Kelley lives in Nashville, TN and serves Christ’s body as a gifted writer and preacher.  Michael and I attended the same seminary and have worked together writing for the same company that does lessons for teenagers.  He emailed this week to let me know that his son, Josh, was diagnosed with leukemia.  Josh is the light of Michael’s life.  Little Josh is only two years old, but has filled his daddy’s life with enough love for a lifetime.  Those of us with kids probably know the feeling.  I know I do. 

What makes this even sadder is that this is the third child I have heard of who has been diagnosed with leukemia in the past six months.  The first was my friend Lonnie & Anita Dorcey’s little girl Ella Grace.  Ella Grace was seven weeks old when she got her diagnosis.  Then there is the son of Pastor Juston Gates at First Baptist Church Saltillo.  And now Joshua Kelley.  Such heartbreaking news is tough to take one time, let alone three times. 

A few months ago, my own daughter Lydia had a rough night.  She didn’t sleep well and kept crying all night long.  Traci and I took turns waking up with her until some time around 5am.  At that time, I just couldn’t sleep anymore and decided to get up with Lydia.  I was frustrated with my daughter, and wanted more than anything in the world for her to go back to sleep.  I just held her close while I moved slowly around her room.  The morning sun began to peek through the window and she never went back to sleep.  Neither did I.  We just stayed in there, dancing with my daughter as the sun rose over the hills. 

About four hours later, I received an email from Lonnie saying that he had been up all night, too.  Except he wasn’t in his daughter’s bedroom, he was in the emergency room watching his little girl Ella Grace hang on for dear life. He said he was tired, he hadn’t slept a wink, but his daughter made it through the night alright.  All of a sudden my night didn’t seem so bad anymore.  As a matter of fact, my night had not been rough at all.  It had been a blessing. Later that same night, I put my little girl to bed and then my son as well.  As I put my little boy Graham to bed we sang a song together - nothing spiritual, just a fun song. When I went to bed I wrote out these words to express my thanks to God for my kids…

At daybreak I dance with my daughter,

At sunset I sing with my son,

And at night when I lay with their mother we pray, to thank God for all that he’s done.

Cause nothing in this life is promised, all that we have is today,

So God open my eyes to the holy surprise of savoring each step of the way.

And at daybreak I will dance with my daughter, and at sunset I will sing with my son,

And at night when I lay with their mother we’ll pray, to thank You for all that you’ve done.

 
Prayin’ for our little friends in Birmingham, Saltillo, and now Nashville –

Kevin