Amelia is only 3 years old. However, you wouldn’t know that if you took her shopping with you.
Allow me to elaborate.
Last Saturday I decided to take her with me to a major grocery store in Newton. She wanted to go on a “daddy-daughter date.” So, Courtney dressed her up and got her ready.
She looked beautiful. Her hair was brushed and put up, her outfit was cute, and she kept smiling and saying, “I’m going on a date with daddy!”
On the way there, she requested to peruse the toy section. I obliged, just happy she wanted to be with me.
But would you believe that it took us 25 minutes to even get to the toys! We could not pass a single endcap without her saying, “OHHHH!!! I really wanted to show you this!!!” Or, “AHHH! I always wanted to get this!”
I listened to her talk (somewhere in the vicinity of 200 wpm) as she walked down every aisle of the shopping store, telling me every thought that entered into her mind.
And I couldn’t have been happier.
A passerby even stopped to tell me, “You are so blessed.” And she was right.
Now remember, this was a normal shopping errand to a simple store, 1 mile away from our house. Not a holiday. Not a birthday. Not a carefully marked date on the calendar. But for us, it was special. Very special.
Why? Because I love being with her. I love it when she talks with me and wants to be with me. I could listen to her share her heart forever.
The time we share is special to me. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I love her, she is my baby girl.
And I believe this is similar to how your Heavenly Father feels when you spend time with Him.
He loves you so much. He longs for those “regular, non-holiday, uneventful” times where you talk with Him. When you tell Him about your day and week and heart and thoughts. When you open up to all that is swirling around.
I’m glad I get to share a little of my life with you in these staff journals. I know you love us and think of us often.
In the words of the Apostle John, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” (3 John 4, ESV)
May you walk with God, knowing that He is your Father in Heaven who knows and cares.
Matthew 6:9,
Pastor Jack