My most desperate apologies go out to the few readers left who still sneak a peek at this blog. Obviously I haven’t kept up with it, even though I had good enough intentions.
I could go through the reasons, but that would be boring.
I could make up a fantastical story, but that would take a lot of time. And I’m short on that at the moment.
So how about a peace offering of sorts ... a thought I had the other day ... something to ponder.
I told one of my girls that I love them and they said, “Love you, Daddy.” After a minute of gushing, I had a strange thought: what would a two or three year old know about love? While it doesn’t diminish the way I feel as their father when they say it to me, they certainly do not know the depth of emotion or lengths I would go to when I say “love”. In a way, it almost seems silly to hear young children say “love”, but as their parents, it moves our hearts even though we recognize that they do not know the extent of what it means to love.
And so it is with God.
He says He loves us—with a depth of emotion incomprehensible, and the lengths of eternity He would go to is unimaginable—and we say we love Him back. Our intentions are true, but they are still short of His reality. He knows what He means (and what we mean), but we don’t know the depth of what He means ... sometimes we don’t even know what we mean. Really, now, how much could we possibly comprehend compared with the God whose name actually is Love?
Yet, even with knowing all of that, God’s heart is still moved to the point of gushing whenever we glance His direction ... whenever “love” crosses our lips.
He is moved by our love.
6 comments:
Wow. Thanks for that revelation, Josh. I have chills. :) This is definately worth the wait....which really wasn't too long anyway. Hope you guys are having happy home time together (and it sounds like you are.) Bless yall. ~Steph
Great to hear from you! How is Olivia? How is Amy feeling with this pregnancy? How are the girls adjusting? Our house fell out of escrow, so we are back up on the market. Hope to sell soon. When are you moving? Love you much--Jules
So glad you updated--got your blog from a friend; it's been such an encouragement to me!
Something else that hits me about your thought is the delightful simplicity of a child's love. When we grow up, we start to think through all of the ramifications and risks and qualifications of love, and often find that our love isn't "good enough," compared to what we know of His. So we strive and we struggle to love more and better. From a child's perspective, loving is the most natural response to being loved. And they love unconditionally too!
Kelly,
So true. Many a philosopher and studier of “human-ness” has noted how we grown-ups mess up the little ones as they grow ... [oversimplifying it here] by turning them from believing, loving, trusting individuals into calloused, dutiful members of society. Ouch.
The ironic thing is that every major religion at one time or another has pointed to children as a clue to the universe (who we truly are or what truly is), or an example of innocent transcendence (who we should be or what we should aim for).
I love your comment, “loving is the most natural response to being loved.” That's so true. It's too bad we grown-ups have to re-learn this in a major way.
Thanks for sharing.
Josh
Funny you should talk about love and children. I think they are synonomous. They are in my eyes the epitome of God's love. So, I guess for myself it is easy to see how they would know what love is. It is when they become adults that many of them forget what love was.
Everything going ok with you guys? I can't remember exactly when Amy was due, but I thought it was before now. Just wondering about the fourth baby's details and wishing you guys time for love, comfort and fun. I bet you are up to your neck in studies; nursing school is TOUGH on it's own...how much more so with a big family and work too. We're praying for you guys. Lots of love...Stephanie L.
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