Loving Father

It was mid-morning on July 28, 1979; I was getting married in a little while and no one knew where dad was! I wasn’t worried, I knew he’d show up on time. It was very much like him to just take off and roam about, but he was always there when he was supposed to be.

Brian, my soon-to-be-husband wasn’t as calm as me. Dad had offered us his car for our honeymoon (Brian’s wasn’t the most reliable) and Brian wanted to make sure it was clean, vacuumed, gassed up and ready to go. However, neither dad or his car was anywhere to be found.

Don’t worry. Dad will be here.

About the time we finished decorating the church, my brother came rushing in looking for me. “Dad’s here!” No surprise for me, I knew he would be. But what did surprise me….

Dad backed his car up to the rear door of the church, popped the trunk and inside was a load of ice-cold Georgia watermelons! Dad remembered when I was a little girl, I said I wanted Georgia watermelons at my wedding, and he made sure there was plenty of watermelon at the church that day.

It’s funny, I was in Georgia visiting my son and his family recently and saw this billboard and the memories flooded back.

Seeing this billboard reminded me of my dad and his love for me. It reminded me of the lengths to which he would go to show that love. As my brother sliced and stacked trays with watermelon, oh how I felt loved.

And in just a couple hours, my dad paused with me in the back of the church and lovingly asked if I was sure this was the right path for me. He quietly told me that we could turn right and go outside if I had any doubts. When I told him I was sure, we turned left and headed down the aisle.

Dad might not have gotten everything right, (who of us does?) but he did love his children and he showed it! He fought for us (literally and figuratively), disciplined us (more than we wanted), challenged us, encouraged us, cheered for us, and he was always there for us.

Dad would give you the shirt off his back. After he moved to heaven, my Daughter-In-Law had one of his shirts made into a pillow for me. Whenever I rest on this pillow, I continue to feel my dad’s love for me.

Dad was a good father and he loved me dearly, but he is gone. However, I am not alone. I have a Father who loves me, who has loved me before the creation of the world, who chose me as his daughter, and who will love me eternally. I have God.

God is a Good Father who always does what is best in every situation and under every set of circumstances. His timing is always perfect. And he always brings exactly what we need. “In all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

God is a good Father who disciplines us because he loves us even though we may not enjoy the discipline at the time. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son. God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.” – Hebrews 12:6.

God sets strict boundaries: boundaries that we often challenge, but which consistently and perfectly prove to be wise, good, and healthy. “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. Psalm 16:6 NIV

God loves us more than we can imagine and demonstrates that love freely. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 NIV

 God goes to great lengths to show us his love for us, giving more than the shirt off his back, giving his only Son for our salvation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 NIV)

 When we accept God’s gift of love to us, salvation in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we are adopted into his family and become his child. We share in the inheritance of eternal life.

^“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” – Ephesians 1:3-6 NIV

 “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” — John 1:12 NIV

I was blessed to have a loving father in my life, perhaps you weren’t. Perhaps years of difficulty and pain have tarnished your idea of a father. That isn’t God. God is a Good Father who loves you, and who will always do what is best for you. Are you a child of God? If not, will you receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior today? When you do, God will welcome you home as his child for all eternity. He is a Good Father, and he loves you.

This summer (2016) I have chosen to highlight an attribute of God each week in the blog posts. For the entire catalog of attributes, please click on this link:

Attributes of God

 For individual blog posts click on one of the following links:
Knowable Creator Wisdom Father Good Just All Knowing Unchanging Eternal Spirit Truth Light Beautiful