DADDY!! DADDY!! DADDY!!
My brother and I start shouting at the top of our lungs the moment we hear the car pulling into the driveway. My dad slowly makes his way to the door, knowing exactly what awaits him. The moment the door swings open, we render him immobile as we fling ourselves onto each of his legs. At this point, he shouts back our names.
BRADLEY!! BRADLEY!! BRADLEY!!
STEVIE!! STEVIE!! STEVIE!!
With feigned weakness he proceeds to walk around our living room with us fully attached to each of his limbs. He takes each step with a STOMP, lifting us straight up and quickly dropping us back to the floor. Finally, after playing with us for several minutes my mom comes to the rescue and calls us all into the kitchen to eat dinner. Once dinner has finished, we beg him to play more, and he obliges. With a change of clothes he returns with renewed energy.
The thought of my dad’s arrival home brings me warm feelings of his love for me. This is a cherished memory, but God intends it for even more. What could be a more perfect image of God’s love for each and every one of us?
A son is shouting out “DADDY” in great expectation of his Father showing up.
The Father knows him, and excitedly calls back his name.
He drops everything to delight in his child, and the child relishes in His love.
Selah
Every summer I bring groups into the back-country on backpacking trips, and I hear their stories. There are not very many loving fathers around these days. They tell me how they don’t remember the last time their dad expressed that they were loved. They may have never heard that their dad was proud of them. Fear swells inside them at the thought of asking for confirmation, mostly because they don’t know what the answer will hold. It breaks me, because I know that I’m loved by my dad.
It is incredible how the relationship with your dad serves to define your view of God. When fathers fail to show their children that they are loved, when they fail to show them that they are proud, when they are harsh or angry, God becomes a figure of intense judgment and fear. I love my dad with all of my heart. I do not approach God with fear. Instead, I shout out DADDY!
Today is his birthday.
I love you dad.
Thank you for being an incredible father!
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Mathew 7:9-11
