"Fathers give. Fathers protect. Fathers bestow. Fathers yearn and long for the good of their children. Fathers delight. Fathers sacrifice. Fathers are jovial and open-handed. Fathers create abundance, and if lean times come they take the leanest portion themselves and create a sense of gratitude and abundance for the rest. Fathers love birthdays and Christmas because it provides them with yet another excuse to give some more to the kids. When fathers say 'no', as good fathers do from time to time, it is only because they are giving a more subtle gift, one that is a bit more complicated than a cookie...Fathers are not looking for excuses to say 'no.' Their default mode is not 'no.' " (From one of Douglas Wilson's blog posts...it was probably really wrong of me to copy it, so nobody tell :)
The author of this was writing instructions to human fathers, but when I read it all I could think about was how God exemplifies all these things. I wrote it in my West Virginia journal before we left and I came back to it after we got back and I've been thinking about it in relation to some of the things I'm working through from that week. And the idea that God can't wait till Christmas, the idea that God always takes the leanest portion for himself...
How counter-intuitive. I know God loves us, but I guess I never think of it as such a practical love, such a dear, comfortable love.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
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