Mirrors of the Father's Love

This week I’ve had the chance to spend time with my 93 year old grandfather. This is the first time that I had been to see him since he had a series of strokes and had been admitted into a rehabilitation facility. As we turned the corner and his eyes met mine, he wept. We got to him; he took my hand and brushed it gently against his cheek saying, “I’ve been waiting all day for you.” It was such a beautifully tender, yet overwhelming moment that I could tell God was present. I couldn’t help but think about how the Father places people and allows moments in our lives to show how he loves us.

I imagine that this is how our Father waits for us. He is so patient; his patience knowing no bounds, he waits in anticipation of our arrival. He seeks us and waits for us. When we turn to Him or arrive…when we face Him, he rejoices. Every time we visit our Father, he rejoices and celebrates. He doesn’t make us feel guilty for being gone so long or for not talking to him for such a long time. He just listens to all we have to say and draws us close. There, of course, are times that he will want to address what is getting between us, but that will come. Primarily, at first, he just wants to be with us. To love us.

I’m thankful today for these past few days of just being with my grandfather. I’ve been reminded of how profoundly beautiful, deep and, yet, how simple and basic our Father’s love is for us. We get so busy, absentminded, and lazy. We make it so difficult, but it isn’t.

This visit has reminded me that every day is a gift and opportunity to grow closer to our Father through prayer or just by spending time with those he sent to us as mirrors of his love.

Love That Doesn't Fall Short

With so many self-help books and quick fix or 7 steps to something betters out there, it is no wonder that we have issues with who we are. It’s as if it is assumed that what we are is bad or unacceptable, automatically.

Only our Father has the capability to love us behind our inabilities. What we see as shortcomings, he sees as opportunities to show us what we can do with him. What we see as set backs, he sees as opportunities to teach us persistence and grow in resolve. What we see as failures, he sees as opportunities to teach us humility. What we see in ourselves as ugly, he sees as his beautiful handiwork.

Because he looks at us through eyes of love, he will always see us as his children. Scripture says that we are, “wonderfully and perfectly made..” However, it seems that we were perfectly made imperfect, on purpose. We weren’t meant to fix ourselves. What we think needs to be fixed is probably not where we are really lacking anyway. I think it is our imperfections that makes our Father love us even more because they are chances for him to step in and “Father” us… to protect us, to guide us, to teach us. He's like a patient father watching his independent, strong-willed child struggle with opening a jar, and then after a long period of time, saying, “Now, will you let me?”

By accepting our imperfections, shortcomings and less than model perfect bodies and less than genius minds, we are accepting our true selves and celebrating the Father's fingerprints in our lives. Then, we can sit in his lap, put our arms around him and say, “Daddy, I need you,” and know that he will always return our embrace, even when we’ve sinned, even when we’ve failed, and especially when we have felt rejected by everyone else. There is nothing on the market that can match that kind of love because we will always be the beloved children of the all-powerful Father.