I know a lot about how much I was loved as a little girl because since I was born my dad wrote me letters and gave them to me in a binder when I turned 18. The entries went from him calling me his "little bug with wild hair" to him asking me why I was so distant with him. That's always really hard to read when I go back and look at those letters. There's a quote by taylor swift (surprise) which I wish I had heard when I was in middle school but it's something along the lines of when making decisions you have to decide as if you are 80 years old looking back on your life-- as a 13 year old girl I'm not going to want to wake up early on a Saturday and get breakfast with my dad, but I know one day I will wish more than anything I can have breakfast with him. So you choose breakfast with your dad on a Saturday. Always. In these letters he wrote about my curiosity, my desire to annoy my brother, and all of our "dates". I can't express enough how much I love those letters. No matter what stage of life I was in, his love for me was unconditional and constant. (side note: both of my parents were this way, but this post applies more to father figures so i'm writing about my dad). Even when I rejected hanging out with him, told him I hated him, and wanted nothing to do with him, he fought for me and loved me and wrote me letters. He pursued me day after day after day, even when I definitely did not deserve it. He showed me grace. He loved me.
When accepting The Lord into my heart, it was so easy for me to see him as a father figure. My dad is great, so then this Heavenly Father probably is too right? I can trust him to pursue me and heal me and comfort me just like my dad did too? The answer is yes. More than that, as great of a dad my dad was/is, God is greater than that. My dad is awesome, but he can't heal my heart (as much as he may want to). But the most important thing my dad did for me was making accepting Jesus so natural for me. I had no walls up, no reservations with it. Dad--I don't know if you realize how big that is for me. My earthly father is the closest thing a dad can get to being like THE heavenly Father. Thank you thank you thank you!!!
Not everyone is as lucky as I am when it comes to fathers, and if that's the case for you, I'm so sorry. Luckily, we all have a heavenly father that fights for us no matter what. He fights for us day after day, even when we curse him, use his name in vain, and straight up just walk away from him. And people who have dad's that reflect the love of the Father are really lucky, but they aren't the only ones with a father who is constantly pursuing them.
In the same way that now I would always choose breakfast with my dad on a Saturday, I also will (try to) choose mornings with my Father. Mornings when all it's all I can do not to crawl back into bed and forget every single responsibility I have for that day. Mornings when I wake up to devastating realizations. Mornings when I have nothing left in me to give. There was a time in which I pushed God away and thought I could do it all on my own and the reality is I can't do any of it without Him. Now I don't know how I ever got by without His strength.
Because of the letters my dad wrote me, I have something tangible to compare the depth of God's love for me. I know my dad loves me infinitely more than I can imagine, but I also know God loves me even more than that. The God of the universe loves me more than a dad who saved me from drowning, a dad who loved me at my actual worst (aka middle school, can I get an amen?), a dad (and mom) who drove 4 hours to my school and then 4 hours back just so I could spend 2 hours at home, and a dad who chronicled his love for me throughout the years in beautifully written letters? I am so lucky. I am so so so loved. You are so lucky and loved, as well!
So, if you're reading this, I encourage you to choose time with the Father (and your own father too!). Thanks, dad (and mom) for being the groolest ever.
*Also, mom, I used capitals and tried to make my grammar more legit just so you would be happy
