Thank You, Father, for a little bit of breathing room. Just having the ability to catch up on a few things was refreshing!
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I was watching a few reels on TikTok this morning while eating my breakfast, and one came up that I needed to share and write a little about. I’ll share the link at the bottom, but if you don’t care to watch it or can’t watch it, basically, it’s a dad sharing a story about his 18-month-old little girl. His wife is out for the evening, and it’s bedtime for the kids. The two older ones are down and out, but the youngest will have nothing to do with it. She’s crying, and nothing is consoling her. He tries the routine of letting her cry for a bit, then checking on her, then letting her cry for a while longer, then checking on her. An hour later, she’s still crying.
He decides that this approach isn’t working, so he gets her up, holds her with her head on his shoulder, and proceeds to get some things around that might help her settle down – a bottle, a bit of food, some toys – all the while traipsing around their brightly lit kitchen and living area. He finally sits down and says her name…but there is no response. She is sound asleep on his shoulder.
He goes on to say that so many times we, as parents – or teachers or friends of families with children, or bus drivers, for that matter – are trying to figure out what in the world kids are needing, when really, all they are wanting…is us. They need to feel held or feel comforted or feel special.
Okay, I need to flip this around. How often do we find ourselves in situations where we just need to feel held, comforted, or special? We seek that comfort in all kinds of places – relationships (be they family or at work), things, jobs, you name it. But do you know where we can get the ultimate comfort? Do you realize who knows that we are special? Do you understand that there is one Person who loves nothing more than to hold His dearly loved children?
Yes, our Heavenly Father is that Someone. No one else can hold a candle to Him. Who else knows us to our very core – before we were even born! – and still loves us? Who else is ready and available 24/7/365? No one but Him. We are so blessed, yet we often look right past Him to whatever else will fill that need in our lives. And far too often, other things just don’t hold up…they don’t hang in there with us. Time is fleeting. People may love us, but time has a way of separating us…but not God. Hang onto Him. Fall asleep on His shoulder. He doesn’t mind one bit…
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 1 John 3:1 NLT
Nov 30th, 2023, Thurs, 1:18 pm
@dadchats Back to funny tomorrow i promise #parenting
