The little one can teach

On May 17th, 2009, at 6:16am, my life changed forever.  My little girl came into this world, and I had no idea how much she would alter every pattern of my existence.   The way I think, the way I plann, and the way I look at life has all mutated in some way.  Over the last 2+ years, I have learned a lot about myself, a ton about infants and toddlers, and an incalculable amount about parenting.   The surprising thing to me has been how much I learned about being a child.

The Holy Bible, especially the New Testament, consistently uses family imagery to explain our relationship with God.  Jesus says we should see him as "Abba' (Daddy), a loving parent, and we are His children (Galatians 4:5-7).  And then there is the popular idea of needing to have "childlike faith" that isn't even in scripture (http://www.soulation.org/library/articles/childlike_faith.pdf).  Personally, I've always struggled a little bit with the whole concept.  I look at scripture and see a loving God who gave up everything for His children (thats us), but also a God who's justice and righteousness spill out on the world in some destructive, frightening ways.  How am I supposed to see the Destroyer of Nations as a loving Father?  And I think its certainly fair to say that all of has have a twisted perception of what it means to be a father based on our relationship with our own earthly Father.  I love my Dad, and he's been a great father, but He certainly isn't perfect.  And the idea of viewing God as a father seems to make Him so, well, small and human and flawed.  So I have simply believed that God was to big to be truly close to, too Holy to want much relationship with me anyway, and certainly too disappointed in me to love me.

Remarkably, being a father to a beautiful, intelligent, curious, tempestuous little girl has taught me some amazing things about the love of a Father.  Mostly I have learned that no matter what emotion I am feeling toward my daughter, love always supersedes them all. Incredibly, understanding more about a Father's love, what I feel toward and what I want from my baby girl , is teaching me more about my role as His child.  Through her fits and giggles, and my innate reactions to it all, I think I am just beginning to understand how God feels about me and what He wants from me in our relationship.

While I hesitate to compare my love for my daughter to God's love for me, I think it can be done as long as we remember that everything we are experiencing on this rotating rock is merely a dim reflection of everything that God is.  I believe that the lessons I am learning are changing me in positive, powerful ways, and are too good to keep to myself.  I hope that as you read this blog, you learn something about how God sees you, and how much He simply wants you to be His child.