I didn’t grow up with my dad around. That statement is true, but this story isn’t about that. It’s simply a fact you should know for the rest of this blog. Throughout the rest of this blog, I will describe a father and daughter relationship the way I’ve seen it to be from tv and other stimuli. Please provide me grace and understanding if the accuracy of this image is a bit far fetched. Again, I didn’t grow up with my dad around.
I imagine a dad shows his love best for his daughter through the pivotal moments he has with her. For instance, he takes her to an ice cream shop for the first time, sees her fall in love as she takes her first bite, and continues to bring her back to that same parlor to watch her experience that love over and over.
It doesn’t matter how old she gets, or what she’s going through, he can always show his love by bringing her to the thing that he knows brings her joy. Ice cream. In the moments when the words “I love you” just won’t do, or when his daughter’s pain is just too deep, dear old Dad always has his car keys ready and the GPS set to ice cream.
This is how I imagine a father’s love for his daughter to be. Love spoken out through simple gestures which transcend time.
This is also how my heavenly Father has created my relationship with Him to be.
My ice cream parlor moments with God happen in the rain.
In a previous blog (titled “No Umbrellas Needed”) I describe a moment which took place 7 months ago. It was a moment at training camp when God sent me a love letter through the rain. In part of the letter, He said:
Rain is the revelation of love that I have for YOU. This is my way of communing with you. Feel ME in the rain.
That moment and God’s love letter has stuck with me this year. Ive been blessed enough to be reminded of it in so many places and in so many moments throughout the race. Ive experienced nonstop downpours in the rainforests of the Dominican, quiet sun showers in the gardens of Jamaica, and cool drops of rain in the blistering heat of India. No matter where I go or what I’m doing, God has used the rain to soak me in “I love you’s.”
It is a beautiful gesture that I am always thankful for, but I have honestly gotten used to it. I’ve learned to see Him and thank Him with every rainfall, but it’s also become a habit.
This morning in Nepal however was different. It was like experiencing my first bite of ice cream with my dad again for the first time.
Going to sleep the night before had been difficult. I had drank a late night cappuccino, dogs wouldn’t stop barking, someone was playing a weird song on repeat on the radio, and another person had decided it was time to pick up the guitar and start practicing. Thankfully, we are all used to crazy sounds at night on the race. It doesn’t bother me that much anymore, so I put my headphones in and eventually fell asleep. Hours later, I got a sudden urge to pee. I didn’t know the time, but it was all of a sudden the quietest hour of the night. The dogs had gone to bed, and the song and guitar lessons had stopped. I slipped out of bed and headed for our community bathroom. As I was heading back to bed, the quiet stillness began to change.
I began to hear light pattering on the rooftop. I went out onto our hostel’s balcony and could feel tiny raindrops begin to fall. The sound of the drops began to fill the quiet space. No one else was awake, but God and I were having this moment together. The light drops quickly turned into a downpour and I rushed to my bed to enjoy it from there.
The moment was special because it wasn’t already raining when I woke up and I wasn’t already awake and active when the rain started. God had intentionally woken me up and then started the rain so that I could experience the moment with Him.
I imagine it’s like the moments where a dad picks his daughter up from school early or wakes her up with ice cream for breakfast. It is a little surprise and happy moment that they get to share together. This moment felt like that.
Thank you God for waking me up with ice cream. Thank you for choosing this morning, and every morning, to show me how much you love me.
I love you, too.
“Give thanks to the Lord of lords. His love is eternal. He alone does great wonders.” – Psalm 136:3-4
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…”
– 1 John 3:1
