Daughter Finds Her Father

Today’s my birthday. I’ve been so sad about my birthday because I miss my mom who recently died. I was getting in my car and the first song that came on was “His Daughter” by Molly Kate Kestner.

The first time I heard this song I must have been around 14. I was with my cousin and we were going to Detroit to feed the homeless with a church she was affiliated with. That’s one of the few church experiences I had growing up, and it was a great thing; I really loved doing it. My cousin had found this song on YouTube and played it for me and said that in time I would find God. I kinda brushed it off.

A few years later, when I found myself pregnant and I wasn’t sure what to do and had been struggling quite a bit, I remembered this song. So I listened to it a lot. At this point I had a spiritual relationship with a higher power as I understood Him (via Alcoholics Anonymous) but I hadn’t really understood God to be who He is. Still, the song helped a lot. It reminded me to pray and pray and pray and, ultimately I decided to leave my whole life in the hands of God and would do whatever He wanted me to do.

That led me to moving to Ann Arbor to make sure my daughter could have a better life than I had, co-parenting with her father, and eventually, after a lot more prayer, seeking to be baptized and joining the church through the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA).

All of it ultimately led me to God and coming into the church, but it also is a huge reason why I ended up becoming a mother as well. The song really did remind me that God was with me, and helped me to not have an abortion. (That’s a much longer story, but, one that really made a huge impact on my life and really showed me how powerful God is when we allow Him into our lives).

I like to look back on what I call “God winks”- times where it’s so apparent that God was working in my life even if I couldn’t see it yet. And, this morning, as I listened to that song, it all made sense again. I’ve been so sad about my birthday because I miss my mom, but it felt like such a subtle but powerful reminder that God is with me always.

Editor’s note: Maria entered God’s family, the Church, through the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist) at Easter 2023. Her mother passed away just weeks beforehand. However, due to Maria’s witness, her mother desired and received the Sacrament of Baptism before she died. The song Maria references can be found at: His Daughter (Acoustic Version)