Running to my Father

There are (many) times where God uses my parental role as a father and mentor to our two younger boys to demonstrate His own character and how I relate to Him as my Father.  This is a story of one of those moments that happened during Christmas.

We were all taking naps one afternoon.  Kevin was sleeping in his room, and Bradley crashed on the couch with me in the living room.  We overslept and it began to get dark.  So dark, you couldn't see a thing in the house.  When all of the sudden, I hear this screech of a cry.  It was Kevin.  I immediately popped straight up and ran into his room.  Didn't even flip the light on.  I patted all around his bed, but he was gone!  In a moment of panic, I heard him scream out in tears again.  It was coming from the other end of the house.  I ran back to the middle of the house, confused and unable to find him.  He screamed again and I zero'd in on the source.  It was coming from our bedroom.  I ran into our bedroom, flipped on the light, and found Kevin on our bed.  He was sitting on his knees, bent over pouring tears into my pillow.  I ran over to him and engulfed him in my arms.  He clung to me and continued to drench my shoulder with his tears as I said over and over "It's OK Kevin.  Daddy's here.  I love you.  I love you.  I'm here. I love you Kevin.  Everything will be OK.  I love you."  I repeated "I love you" over and over through tears of my own, as we held each other for the next 15 minutes.  He wouldn't let me go, and I wouldn't let him go.  It was the sweetest 15 minutes I've ever had with him.

What happened was, he woke up from his nap to a pitch black house and was scared.  He must have walked right past me and Bradley on the couch (sound asleep) but unable to see us.  He managed to climb up on our bed (which is not easy for him). And just...the terror that came over him when I wasn't where he expected to find me.

I could see myself in Kevin in that moment.  How, when I was lost and scared for my life, I went running to my Father.  And He was there, ready and willing, to wrap His loving arms around me and hold me tightly to His chest.  Whispering into my ear, "I love you Justin, I love you." And in His arms, all my fears are swept away. He never fails.

What a sweet reminder to know He "holds my tears in a bottle" (Psalm 56:8) and that "His thoughts are precious towards me" (Psalm 139:17).

This is love.