A public service announcement

This is a friendly reminder that while I am out of pocket, there very well may be something in my wife's pocket.  My children are well protected.  And, she shoots with her eyes closed, so I cannot guarantee a clean kill.  That is all.  As you were.



Then again, in all seriousness, the unsung heroes of any war are those who stay behind.  Our military spouses deserve far more respect than they will ever receive.  It is the staying behind, in the mundane, continuing the routine, alone, without the grand adventure... that is the greater sacrifice.  God has blessed me with a hero for a wife.  She believes in what we are doing, which is why when I board this plane in a few minutes I can hold my head high.  My kids will be just fine - better than fine - they have a hero for a mom!  Now, that... is all.

Quality time with Dad

So this one time... I was playing with Seth by a river in Colorado, and well... I dropped him in. He cleaned up really nice though. It's amazing that kids survive childhood. What's more amazing is that even though we do things like drop them in the mud, they constantly want to be with us (at least the little ones do). One day when Joel was about two or three I peaked into his room as he woke up from his nap. In one smooth movement he opened his eyes, heaved his still heavy head from his pillow, and slurred with a sleepy tongue, “Daddy, let’s go play in the play room.” It seems that every waking moment these kids want to play, and they want to play with me or their mom. I'm sure that will change one day so I'm taking all I can get right now. How about you? Do you constantly crave time with your Father? We find so many things to do all day - news, work, jogging, vegging. Do you, as you lift your head from your pillow think about spending time in the presence of your Father God? You know that He desires that time with you, and honestly, He'll never drop you in a Colorado river. Cry out for Him. He'll be there.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

witness

Our love of our Father should be so deep within us that we aren’t ashamed of it in front of our peers.

Jeremiah 1:7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. ⁸ Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD."

Christmas program, 2006 – Joel finds himself standing in front of 200, in his mind, dangerous, people.  With all eyes fixed on him, in a shaky voice he pleads, “Daddy?” Rebekah and I got his attention and watched the concern give way to joy as he pointed and announced to what could have been the world as far he was concerned, “There’s my Mommy and Daddy!” 

Do we love our Father enough to joyfully, unashamedly, confidently, point Him out to a hostile audience?

Daddy > the dragon ninja

I was catching a little Saturday morning TMNT when a dragon wrapped Master Splinter up in his tail and began thrashing him around, slamming him into the ground and surrounding buildings. My two-year old looked at me and said, "that dragon strong like you, Daddy!" Oh ya, that's the way it should be. The paradigm by which my boys evaluate the strength of a medieval, reptilian, martial warrior is me. Ah... fatherhood.

The Perfect Father

Matthew 19:14 but Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven."

As I search the Scriptures I do not see very many references to God’s fatherhood. They are there, please don’t misunderstand. But when compared to the frequency of references to God’s justice, righteousness, holiness, and others of His “harder” attributes, His fatherhood may appear to be a characteristic of lesser import. Reaching such a conclusion, however, would be to misunderstand the character of God.

Being a father (poor example as I am of God’s fatherhood) has taught me much about the character of my heavenly Father. I do not act as a father. I am a father. When I read a book to my kids I don’t preface it with, “as your father I am connecting with you in a special way through the reading of this book for your education and the strengthening of our relationship.” When I discipline them I don’t cite my parental authority to carry it out. When I get up before dawn to go to work I don’t announce that my motivation to do so is sleeping in the next room. Nor are these are actions a representation of a mere segment of my life. They are actions overflowing from who I now am. I am a father.

So it is with my Father. He need not say it frequently to make true. He demonstrates it throughout His Word and throughout my life. He provides as a father, disciplines as a father, instructs as a father, even when He doesn’t announce it in those terms. God’s attributes are eternal and therefore present in each and every one of His actions and statements. Unlike my imperfect fatherhood, His actions and statements are perfectly consistent according to His fatherly love for me. And so, I need not fear His “harder” attributes because it is my Father who is the Judge, my Father who is righteous, my Father who is holy, and all the while inviting me, His rebellious son, to walk in a father-son relationship with Him.

Even now through the unspeakable blessing of being a father myself He is drawing me closer to Himself – to His fatherly love towards me. The series of posts that will follow are a handful of those lessons that I rarely share out loud because my leak-happy tear-ducts betray how close these thoughts are to my heart. These vignettes are both convicting and humbling as they never fail to remind me just how finite I am and how perfect He is. My prayer is that these words challenge us all to walk ever more closely with the only One truly worthy of the honorable title, “Father.”