Look At My Daddy!

There are days when I feel like I am not cutting it as a parent. Ever been there? I hope I am not alone! There are days I don't pay as much attention to my kids as I should. Other times I find myself needing to apologize to them for one reason or another. I could always do more and be better for my three kids. I try my best to be the great father that they deserve, but there are days!
Then there are other days. Days that you want to remember for a lifetime. Days that you did it right. Days that seemed to be perfect and everything fell into place.

I gave the right advice at the right time.
I came in at the right moment to stop WWIII from breaking out in my house.
I listened intently, as a concerned father would.
I took them out for ice cream after a bad day and it made all our problems go away.

We have our ups and we have our downs as parents. And then, every once in awhile, something happens that has a category all of its own. A moment, a word spoken, a look, a trip or activity that seems to rise above the rest. Let me give you some back story to one of these moments.

It was a Thursday, my day off from work. Around the house, I typically feel like a pitcher in t-ball! I help with laundry (folding, not washing!). I attempt to help with the kids schooling, emphasis on the word, attempt! This particular day my mother-in-law was bringing her outdoor furniture for us to have on our back patio. A nice table, six chairs, and one giant umbrella! I tried to finish up with yard work and get the back patio blown off so it would look ok for the arrival of said furniture.
She shows up in her truck and everything is in the bed. I then proceed to take all of her furniture out of the truck, all the while having two ladies tell me exactly how to pick them up, where to put them, how to arrange them, etc! You get the picture. Everything seemed to be in its place and it was time to get the giant umbrella. There is nothing heavy about carrying the umbrella, but it is large and to a three year-old girl, looks impressive. As I had the umbrella on my shoulder, carrying it from the front driveway to the back of the house, I hear these words come out of my three year-olds mouth: Look at my daddy!

Those words! My daughter, looking at me with pride, and sharing to the whole world what an incredible feat I had just accomplished. She went over and grabbed her nana and again said, "Look at my daddy!" Wow. With those very words she broke through something in my heart.
Anything she asks in that moment is hers. Whatever she wants to do, we will go do it. Money is not an issue. Time no longer exists. If the world was mine to give, it would be hers.

There is something special about a son or daughter feeling pride in a father. I wonder, perhaps, if God feels the same way. I imagine He does. I think about David facing off with Goliath. "You come to me with a sword, but I come to you in the name of the Lord!" And then God responding, "David, Goliath is yours! The kingdom is yours! My love is yours!" I think the same could be said of Elijah. "Let me show off what my God can do. Bring buckets and buckets of water to pour over the altar. There is nothing impossible for my God!" And God consumed the sacrifice for Elijah!
We brag about athletes, that we don't even know. We talk big about this political party or that and all of its accomplishments. We spout on and on about what great words pastor so and so said (and I'm sure they were great words!). I like you have done all of this. But, is our Father, our Daddy, not greater than all of those things? I wonder if we actually spend the appropriate amount of time giving Him the praise and honor and adoration that He deserves?!
​I may be meddling some here or there, but I would be remiss to not present the case before you, that the God I serve is still the God that can do the impossible. That He can still shake the foundations of the earth and move mountains. That He can still heal and deliver; redeem and restore. He is capable of far more than we could ever think or possibly imagine. His love is endless and His power is unmatched. There is no other god who can stand beside Him.

I say with great pride today, “Look at my Daddy!”

And I believe with all of my heart, that if we were to treat Him a little more like He deserves, and share a little more with the world what He could do for them, God would show up and show off, time and time again!