"Honey, what's wrong? Are you alright?" The panicked voice of the young woman cried out to him as she entered his study. The unusual sight of her husband wracked with quiet sobs concerned her deeply. She had hardly ever seen him shed a tear before. What was going on?
Silently, tears slipped down his face. As he stood up to engulf her in his strong arms the paper he had been holding drifted to the floor. She held him tightly as he composed himself and a minute later he released her, knelt down and picked it up.
"Here, see what I found." He croaked as he handed her the well worn photo.
"Sweetie, it's just a picture of you holding Shelby when she was four years old!" The tension that had grabbed her as she’d entered the room began to dissolve. "She's in the next room watching a movie! Are you sure you’re okay?”
"Yes. I’m fine, really. There’s no big problem. I’m not exactly sure where all of this emotion came from but when I looked at the image of Shelby leaning against my chest, arms crossed behind her neck and I remembered her sweetness; how small and precious she was and how she used to look at me with her big blue eyes…. I was overwhelmed with love for her! His eyes searched hers for understanding.
She held the picture closer and examined it. Her daughter’s face was flushed from the sun and a smudge of dirt lay across her apple-like cheeks. She wore dirty yellow shorts and a blue tank top and one of her shoelaces was untied. As she looked at the camera, her mischievous eyes twinkled with delight. Her lounging position mimicked that of her dad as she rested on his chest, looking completely peaceful and trusting. “I remember the day this picture was taken. We had just come home from a day at the lake. You, Shelby and I had spent most of the afternoon in the boat fishing. You thought it was so funny that she caught more fish than you.” A smile stretched across Elana's face as she too remembered that ordinary yet enjoyable day. “I took this picture right after we got home.”
“Yep! I remember thinking what a great day it had been! After you took the picture, she started struggling and tried to get up, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a great big hug and then I tickled her till she was squealing and laughing so hard….” His voice trailed off and a chuckle escaped his lips.
“Hey Dad!” His journey down memory lane was cut short as his lanky and beautiful thirteen year old daughter Shelby came bouncing to the door, leaned against the frame and innocently asked, “Hey Dad, may I have some money to go get ice cream?”
He carefully set the picture down, walked to the door, grabbed her, wrapped his arms tightly around her and gave her a bear-like hug. After smothering her hair with kisses he continued to hold his squirming daughter as he smiled and said, “We’ll see, Shelby. We’ll see.” ……………………………………………………………………………..
My friend Stew was laughing and was somewhat embarrassed as he told me this story about himself. This father of nine children went on to say how each one of them held a special place in his heart. As I listened, I thought about how this sweet story was a very, very small and extremely minute example of the love that God has for us. I was reminded that God the Heavenly Father always has us, His children, in His thoughts.
God loves you with a personal and overpowering love. His love is complete and all encompassing. He understands you in a way that no other person in the world can because He created you and knows what is in your heart! He knows the hidden secrets of your soul and still wants to wrap you up in the majesty of His mighty arms and smother you with kisses. Even more than Stew's affection for his children,, God the Father is emotional in His love for you and enjoys you. There is nothing that you have ever done or can ever do that will shock Him or stop His overwhelming love for you!
No matter what kind of earthly father figure you have had, God is the perfect Father and will never let you down. Turn into His arms today and let him shower you with His love.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39 From God’s love letter to us……the Bible Have a good day! Love, Sue
No comments:
Post a Comment