Baby Pictures
I am now a father of twenty-somethings. I have been through the ages and can attest to the ups and downs of marriage, children and life in general. I certainly have absolutely no complaints. God has been GOOD to me. But that is not what I am writing about today so don’t try to get me off of my subject.
This morning while walking through my home a framed picture grabbed my attention. Small qualifier here - my wife and I rarely change out photos once we frame them. So a stranger in our home could mistakenly take us for a young couple having their first run at parenting. That would be unless the stranger happened to notice that there are 7 different babies in all those pictures! In that case we might be mistaken for a fluffle of rabbits! At any rate, I noticed a picture. In the picture was our number 4, aged around 9 months, sitting in her Moses basket beautifully dressed holding a small silver trinket in her pudgy, dimpled hands. My focus quickly went to her wispy dark hair and cute chubby cheeks framing her beautiful little face My daughter was dressed in white and had a cherub styled look of inquisitiveness that was not completely hiding that mischievous glint in her eye. This was a look for which #4 is known.
As I looked at the picture I realized I still think of #4 in the same manner as I saw her in that photo. I know her as that little baby girl, full of energy, ready for excitement at any moment but able to pull off the most magical naps known to humankind. As this thought lingered, I realized that #4 is no longer that baby girl. She is now 21 years old, a beautiful young lady. She drives herself to work, takes college courses at a local university and she can put people to sleep with a round kick to the head. She is not the little baby girl in our photograph - except to me.
My mind was in a bit of a whirl as I thought about it and then a tear quickly formed in my eye. The Holy Spirit was speaking and what He was saying was marvelous to me. The way I understand it is this:
God views us as a father views his children. He sees us in the same light as if we were that pristine child in the Moses Basket, full of life, without blemish or fault, completely innocent and free from the residue of this world. Of course God understands that we have “grown-up”. We have rebelled, seeking our own way, suffering from pride and lust and all the rest of the muck that we get into as grown-ups in the world. But He still chooses to see us as that child, the one He loves so dearly, the one He has protected, nurtured and sacrificed for throughout life.
God is our Father! He loves us and He chooses to see us in the light of His love for us. He chooses to look past everything else other than the one He loves, His child. That is what He, our Father, chooses to do. Now, who is going to change His mind?