God- The Big, Soft Hearted Dad

My heart overflows with joy everytime I see my husband with our children. For a man that never really wanted kids, he is the biggest softie when it comes to them. He loves to snuggle with them, dote on them with things they love and want, and treat them to fun activities. His heart oozes with affection for them. It makes me think of God's love for us, He loves to love on us, to dote on us, and to let us know constantly we are on His mind. As much as we try to love our children with perfect love, we are human, we will fail. But God's love for us is perfect.  God's love is perfect. It is patiently waiting for us to run to Him, not boastful, not proud, not rude or self-seeking and keeps no record of past wrongs. It always hopes, always perseveres, and NEVER fails. No matter how much I screw up, His arms remain open, waiting for me. His heart just gushes with love and affection for each of us.
Yes, as any parent does occasionally, He disciplines those He loves, but unlike human parents, God's mercy is always the same. I know that I, myself am guilty of occasionally acting out of frustration instead of cool-headed collectiveness when it comes to discipline, praise God He handles us so much more gracefully. A story of David is brought to mind when I think of God's mercy. Well, David's whole life story is God's mercy over and over, as David had his share of mess-ups, but how I wander... In 2 Samuel 24 David takes a census of all Israel and Judah, against the Lord's wishes. The Lord offers him a choice in how he wants to receive his punishment: 3 years of famine, 3 months of fleeing his enemies, or 3 days of plague. David's response: (2 Samuel 24: 14) "...Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men." Like a big, soft hearted Dad, after he reprimands us, He's there with us through the aftermath.

Fast Forward-- April 2012

So it's been a while since my last blog post. Our lives have seen ups and downs since I last wrote up here, but to sum it up now, we've seen God's hand move on our behalf as a family over and over again. We recently moved to Waco, Texas for work after a 9 month span of being unemployed. On our adventure heading out here, just 300 miles from Waco our only vehicle died-- kaput. God's word to me as we waited for the tow truck, when I sighed and asked why we seemed to have such bad luck, I'll never forget. It's not bad luck, it's just an opportunity for my Glory to be revealed. Wow. And have we ever seen that these past long months.

We recently came to learn that we are expecting our fourth child, and looking into the prospect of buying our first home, if the Lord chooses to open the door for us.  We are living and learning to continually stretch ourselves and live by faith.