Noah, my one and only son, will turn six months old next week. He is amazing. He is healthy and becomes more alert and aware of his ever growing world with each passing day.
Gina and I have a little wake up routine we practice with him each morning. When we hear him begin to move around in his crib, we make our way quietly into his room. We begin by softly saying his name, "Noah. Noah. It's time to wake up."
Just a few steps and suddenly his handsome face appears just over the wall of his bed. Bright-eyed and gazing up at us with such expectation, such hope, such excitement. I will lean over and he will reach up with his little hands to my face as if to say "Good morning daddy. I knew you were coming for me."
That's when I saw it: A Child-like Love. His eyes are full of pure love every morning. A love I'm sure I do not deserve. A love I'm sure I need. He gazes at me, piercing through to the core of my being with such a simple understanding and expectation of goodness from me. It's like he already knows he can count on me. I don't have to even do anything for it. He just gives love with such faith.
Jesus said, "Unless you accept God's Kingdom with the simplicity of a child, you will never get." (Mark 10:15 The Message)
I began to wonder, do I look at God the way that Noah looks at me? Do I gaze up every morning with a child-like love at my Heavenly Father's face the way Noah gazes into his earthly father's face? Do I trust the love of my God to care for me with simple faith or have I become too clouded with worry and want?
I heard it said recently that God wants us to seek His face not just His hands. That He will bless and provide for us because He promised that He would but what He longs for is intimacy. My son knows that I am going to feed him and clothe him and nurture him because that is what I do After all, I am his father. Have I allowed myself to also believe these truths of my Father?
Gina and I have a little wake up routine we practice with him each morning. When we hear him begin to move around in his crib, we make our way quietly into his room. We begin by softly saying his name, "Noah. Noah. It's time to wake up."
Just a few steps and suddenly his handsome face appears just over the wall of his bed. Bright-eyed and gazing up at us with such expectation, such hope, such excitement. I will lean over and he will reach up with his little hands to my face as if to say "Good morning daddy. I knew you were coming for me."
That's when I saw it: A Child-like Love. His eyes are full of pure love every morning. A love I'm sure I do not deserve. A love I'm sure I need. He gazes at me, piercing through to the core of my being with such a simple understanding and expectation of goodness from me. It's like he already knows he can count on me. I don't have to even do anything for it. He just gives love with such faith.
Jesus said, "Unless you accept God's Kingdom with the simplicity of a child, you will never get." (Mark 10:15 The Message)
I began to wonder, do I look at God the way that Noah looks at me? Do I gaze up every morning with a child-like love at my Heavenly Father's face the way Noah gazes into his earthly father's face? Do I trust the love of my God to care for me with simple faith or have I become too clouded with worry and want?
I heard it said recently that God wants us to seek His face not just His hands. That He will bless and provide for us because He promised that He would but what He longs for is intimacy. My son knows that I am going to feed him and clothe him and nurture him because that is what I do After all, I am his father. Have I allowed myself to also believe these truths of my Father?
So today I am learning from my son. I am learning that A Child-like Love is simple: Love God for who He is. Take Him at His word. Seek His face daily with the bright-eyed excitement of a child.
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