Fatherhood, God & Me

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%204:19&version=NIV1984

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20139:13-14&version=NIV1984

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=I%20John%203:1&version=NIV1984

Today is a special day.  I suppose that, as a Christian, every day is special.  But today is extra special.  It was 35 years ago that our son, Brian, was born.  It was an amazing day if anti-climatic.  For a couple weeks I was eagerly awaiting the phone call at work to hurry home to get Beth.  To make the mad dash to the hospital.  It never came.  The doctor induced her at 8 AM on a Tuesday and Brian was born several minutes after 3 PM.  Although there was no drama involved it was a great day, just the same.  A son!  And a very little son at that.  Not that he was a preemie or anything.  It’s just you forget just how small a newborn really is.

Being the oldest in a family of 8, I was used to children.  In fact, my youngest brother was born when I was 18 ½.  So being around children was very normal for me.  I know that Beth and I must have discussed having children before we got married but I really don’t remember.  I knew that she was good with children so I figured she would make a great mom.  About 3 days after we were married I mentioned to Beth that we ought to try to have children.  I suppose that a lot of guys would want to wait on this and just enjoy married life for a while first.  Even some women might opt for this.  I knew 2 things.  I wanted to get married.  And I wanted to have children.  With one already done I guess I was ready for the second.  Such is the life of a Type A person!

Now it is 35 years later.  Beth and I have 3 children.  I wish we’d had a few more.  I love them all very much.  In all those years there were only a handful of days where they gave me trouble.  And there was not one single day that I wished I wasn’t a dad.  Not one.  I wanted to be a father and it was exactly what I thought it was going to be.  Now, for the past 5 years, I have experienced being a grandfather.  That surprised me.  I guess my vision of children was incomplete.  You raise them until they go off on their own.  After that I had no thoughts.  So now that 2 of them are married and we have 5 grandchildren, I am ecstatic!  It turns out that being a grandparent is even better than being a parent!  Who knew?

As I think about it now, one of the reasons why I wanted children was to share my life with them.  To be with them.  To take care of them.  To help them develop and grow.  To love them.  In many ways, I suppose that these are the same reasons why God created us.

Since God is perfect in every way, we understand that He has no needs.  Not in the past.  Not now.  And not in the future.  And we understand that, as Trinity, God has fellowship within Himself.  Yet God decided to create angels.  And other Heavenly beings.  And then He decided to create humankind.  Again, not because God needed fellowship.  But because God wanted to share His life with others.  He wanted millions of people to spend time with.  To look after.  To help develop and grow.  To love.  And to love Him back.  And worship Him. 

Isn’t that pretty amazing to think about?  Almighty God, Creator and Ruler of the universe,  created us because He wanted to spend time with us.  With little ol’ you and me.  To take care of us.  And love us.  If that doesn’t make you feel significant, I don’t know what will!  This is precisely why God couldn’t scrap humankind when Adam and Eve fell into sin.  It went against His whole reason for creating us in the first place.  It was His love for us that motivated Him to find a way to redeem us.  At the cost of His own Son.  See John 3:16 on that one.

Wow!  I don’t know that words can describe how I feel.  Special.  Significant.  Honored.  Loved.  Unworthy.  When I think of God wanting me so much, why wouldn’t I want to spend time with Him?  Seriously. 

And so it is, on this 35 year anniversary of becoming a father, I find that I share something very special with God.  Fatherhood.  As such, God knows my dreams, fears and hopes for my children.  And, since I am a father, I find that I understand Him a little bit better, too.  I understand some of His motivations.  Some of His heart.  Some of His desires for me.  How I make Him happy when I worship, and obey, and serve Him.  How I make Him sad when I sin, or get too busy to spend time with Him.  These help me to see God in an entirely different light.  A good light.

Lord, thank you for the privilege of being a father all these years.  Thank you for the incredible journey that it has been.  And how well my children have turned out.  I thank you that I share the Fatherhood experience with You.  Being a father helps me understand some of Your thoughts and feelings toward me.  How blessed I am to have You for my Father.  May I live a life that will make You proud of me.  And bring You glory.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.