Daddy

Frankie Dorothy Nott

 As a father there is nothing that resonates in me more than my love for my beautiful daughter Frankie. One of the most rewarding feelings I experience as a Dad is when Frankie returns the love that I so desperately desire from her. Just a simple kiss, or hug or if she just says my name brings me more happiness and life than anything else on this earth. You really can't un-love your child because they are part of you, they are part of your DNA, they're your flesh and blood and to not love them is to not love you.

 Recently Frankie started to develop her own 'free will.' What this means for me as a Dad is that Frankie has the choice to show me how much she loves me ........or not. A few weeks ago I was coming home from work so excited to see my girls. When I saw Frankie I squatted down to her height and opened my arms waiting for her to run into my arms and give me a kiss with those beautiful, tiny, soft lips. Instead she preceded to slap me in the face and say 'no, no, no.' To say I felt rejected is an understatement. Luckily this doesn't happen all the time and just the other day I received a much better 'welcome home daddy' reception. 

 Lot's of people view God as a distant father. The kind of dad that never says 'I love you.' The kind of dad that never has time to hang out with his children. The kind of dad that is angry and inconvenienced by simple requests like 'help' and 'can you come play with me?' 
 Have you ever seen one of those movies where a rebellious teenager says how much they hate their dad? Then you meet the on-screen dad and he's actually a really awesome guy trying to do the best to win his daughter or son's affection. That's us! Ungrateful, un-accepting and unaware of how desperate God our father is to show his love to us. Much like the loveable on-screen dad, the bible paints a picture of a dad way different to what most of us may be used to hearing about; 

'Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father." 

There's two beautiful thoughts for us to take out of this verse;

1) God has adopted us. Adoption is a process of being chosen. To be adopted is to be accepted, even if your previous family history records only rejection. Nobody accidentally adopts someone, it's an intentional process. The fact that the word 'adopt' turns up in the same sentence as God and You should give you some scale to how unique and special you really are. The creator of the heavens and earth chooses you! God has invited us to be his sons and daughters and if we accept we become 100% part of his ever growing family, no strings attached.

2) God is our daddy. The word 'abba' is from the aramaic language and can be translated to mean 'papa' or 'daddy', it literally represents a child like love for their dad that anyone can relate to. It's a term a child uses when they adore their daddy. It's a term that a child uses because their daddy is a place of love and acceptance.It's a term a child uses because they know their daddy is a place of safety.

 Take some time to think about this; you matter very much to God and he chooses you all the time, every time because he loves you as a daddy loves their child. So the next time God kneels down and opens up his arms waiting for you to run into his embrace, you have a choice. You can either slap him repeatedly in the face and say 'no, no, no.' Or you can start a journey of knowing a perfect Dad who will always look out for you, cheer you on and smile every time he thinks of you.

Frankie and the most proud 'daddy' in the world