Reflections on Love

As I have become a father, there have been many new things I’ve learned and many stories about my daughter that I can share. There have been two defining moments in my life that have made me learn new things about my Father. Many people have said the marriage union btwn a man and a woman is as close of an example of the love that our Father has for us. A partner who does not grow tired of waiting, loving, or supporting the other. This unconditional love is reflective of God’s love. Marriage has helped me to understand the unwavering devotion that God has for us, as well as how important Jesus’ grace is to us as Christians.

Another defining moment was the birth of my daughter. Everyday I look fwd to when I can spend time with her. More importantly I know that I get to spend as much time with her really late at night, or really early in the morning, when I wake up to change her diaper, or helping her go back to sleep after a feeding. Those moments, in the quietness of when the world is asleep, my daughter and I are awake, hanging out. Often times we sit in the rocking chair, sometimes I’m too tired to even hold her, but other times I sit and sing for my daughter. In singing sometimes she falls asleep or tries to stay awake to hear the melodies of hymns or church songs.

I’ve realized that only a parent who loves their child would wake up every 2-3 hours to sing to their child for 20mins to fall back asleep. Sometimes I think about the future when my daughter will cause me some pain or worry, but my love for her will never change. There may be moments in life when my daughter will claim to hate me, but my love will remain the same. I’ve also realized that regardless of how much my daughter says “I love you,” it will never equal the love that I have for my daughter.

How is it that I can love someone that I don’t even know, or someone who can’t express their love for me. It goes beyond logical reasoning that I would have utmost devotion to someone that may or may not love me back to the same degree. It is these thoughts that have made me realize and understand the true and exact love that my parents had and have for me when I was a child and as an adult. It is also how I’ve continued to learn about how God loves me.

Like my daughter, it is unlikely that my love for God will equal the love that God has extended to me. God sent his only son to live and die for me. God looks fwd to the time we spend with him. God’s love and grace for us only becomes more tangible to me as I begun to spend time with my daughter. The biggest difference as it says in Jeremiah 1:5 is, God knows us even before we’re born. Even though my daughter may know my voice, she doesn’t know me, and I don’t know her. The love I have for my daughter a complete stranger, who has lived with me for 2 weeks runs deep, how much deeper does the love of our Father run if he knew us before we were even born, before we began to pray, before we devoted our lives to him? The amount of love and grace that God extends to us becomes incomprehensible to human thought.

What a great and loving father we have in Heaven. What a delight it is for God to hear us sing and talk to him. What a delight it is for God to see his children in his house today. The idea of God’s unwavering and never ending love is basic, but also very complex. It has taken many life changing events for me to further understand this love. It is my hope that God will reveal the depth of his love to us in a very personal way before we spend an eternity in heaven learning more about God’s love.