Dad is that your blessing sm2Good morning family, friends and world.  There is something I’d like to share with you today.  I’ve been up since about 3:30 am with leg cramps and tendons down my shins pulling; couldn’t sleep.  This morning God shared with me a very poignant reminder of his love for me and another example of what He meant when He said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, . . .” Genesis 1:26.

Some of our children live very near us; some live 16 hours or more away and we long to hear from them and especially our grandchildren (although I don’t think they realize how much).  We long to know how their day has gone, what new and exciting or boring thing they are experiencing, what their hopes and dreams are; we used to know when they were babies and very young.  As they grew older and busier with the things and people that occupy their lives, they found little time to talk and visit with us.  Oh, they know we are always here for them to love on them, listen to their problems and frustrations and share stories of their ancestors and our lives (when they wanted to know more about them), forgive them when they break our hearts, but that sweet innocence of childlike love is crowded out by the daily grind of their worlds.  They somehow think we can’t understand what they are dealing with or that we will be too judgmental  of their actions; forgetting we no longer live under “the law”, but now live under God’s grace and while we may not like the choices they make or behaviors they exhibit . . . we love them unconditionally.

Are you beginning to get the message He whispered in my ear this morning?  In the midst of my tears and questions  . . .

“Why don’t they call me more often, why don’t they know what I’m feeling.  How I miss the sound of their voices and feeling more included in their life.  Don’t they know how much I love them?  Even those who live very near to us are too busy to check in or ask us to pray about a burden they carry alone; some do better than others but mostly they are busy trying to be in control.”

. . . I heard my Abba Father say, “Now you know better how I feel when you don’t spend time with me.  Come let me hold you close and take some rest, while I carry that burden for you my child.  You have so much more to learn about me and I long to show you.”

. . . And I wept softly and said, “thank you Father.  I love you too.”

Do you hear his voice?