A FATHER’S LOVE

Oh my, there she was playing with her little cabbage patch doll; shamefaced, little dolls. Not popular in striking beauty like barbie dolls, but striking in humility as in “hold me please and play with me” with arms wide open. What a brilliant marketing strategy. Our daughter, Constance, was taken by these precious dolls and it was love for her at first sight of these wonderful cabbage patch dolls. They were a real comfort to her, but there was nothing that brought her more comfort and great serenity than the expectations of her father coming home from a day’s work. The anticipation when she was even an infant was astonishing.

Constance was a few months old, still in her infant stages crying around the same time every day. There was nothing I could do. She was well-fed, clean, and dry and I would play with her as much as a mother could in her infant year. She would dazzle at the animated figurine mobile over her crib, kicking her legs with excitement strongly as the mobile figurines would dangle playfully over her head. Oh, how she would open her eyes wide with glee and excitement. Her laughter, even as an infant, was something to encounter. Constance would laugh from her belly and an outburst of joy would linger in the air. I most definitely enjoyed my motherhood with her all the day as any mother does when they bond with their beloved infants, but when it was about bedtime, I could not get her to stop crying. It was as though she had an imaginary timer clock that would awaken her senses and would alarm her that it was almost time for her father, Kent, to come home. Oh, how I enjoy my motherhood in those days and still do, but when the evening came, as the sundial had started to change, so did Constance’s spirit. And I knew only one person on this earth could give her great comfort before she would fall to sleep in a timely fashion. And this comfort came from no one other than her father.

There he enters at the front door, my husband Kent. Long day at work, tired mentally, but he could hear her cries as he shuts the door. He would smile at the sound of her cry. As Constance was at the point of crying at the top of her lungs, as in “ I want my father.” You see, she couldn’t speak as an infant, but my mother’s internal instinct knew the sound of her cry and so did her father. After Kent entered the front door, he greeted me with a quick hello and warm embrace, dashing up the stairs to his beloved daughter, and there she was kicking and screaming relentlessly with no apologies. Kent then reached down with his arms, called her by his famous endearment pet name, and there was a great silence as I stood at the bottom of the stairs. Constance stopped crying immediately and I just heard giggles as Kent took her in his arms. I was relieved that she stopped crying but a little jealous how all day Constance would enjoy my parenting but after a certain time of the day she would cry out for her father before he even came home. She knew when it was close for him to arrive. This would happen every day before she went to sleep.

There they were, Constance and Kent, as he walks down the stairs and cradles her in his arms. He would come down into the living room and sit in an antique rocking chair across from her cradle in the living room. There he would sit down with her and turn her facing him, as in holding a football and she would still be crying, with no prevail, and Kent would open his mouth and sing lullabies and nursery rhymes which would give her great comfort and she would burst out with laughter and fall asleep in minutes. It was the sound of her father’s loving voice. She delighted in it. Even rocking her, she would not stop crying. It was the melody of his singing that she delighted in, and in return, he gave Constance whatever she wanted, even until this day. I perceive that all fathers have that type of love for their children, little girls and boys. Fathers love it when their children delight in them.

So it is, beloved, with our heavenly Father. God in heaven delights in his children, the church of God. God, in heaven, promise us that he would give us the desires of our hearts when we reveal and demonstrate our love and delight in him. Delight is to please someone greatly and experience the light. A high degree of gratification, joy, and extreme satisfaction. Jesus, in the image of God, also ministers to us about how he himself always did things that pleased God. We, the body of Christ, must aim to please God, our maker, and our heavenly Father. There is nothing that gives God greater joy and good pleasure than we as his children aim to please and delight in him. God will move heaven on your behalf if you do this. It is the word of God! God said, if you delight in him, he will give you the desires of your heart. Not desire, but desires. There are many desires that God will fulfill if you will delight yourself in him. Oh my, what a marvelous promise from God your heavenly Father!

There is no man on this earth that can give you and fulfill the desires of your heart. Only God can do that, beloved. Most often, we as children of God, do not know to the extent what our hearts desire, but God does. God will give you even more than you can even ask or think only because of the mighty power of God’s Spirit is dwelling in your hearts.

Constance delighted in her father’s love in singing, which serenaded her to sleep every night. She still does look at him wide-eyed and his heart still melts the way it did so many years ago. Our heavenly Father is waiting for us to delight ourselves in him in the same manner as all fathers with their daughters and their sons because God is waiting for you to delight yourself in him and he will give you the desires of your heart. It is a father’s love. Happy Father’s Day! Amen.

“Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” (PSALM 37:4).

“And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him” (JOHN 8:29).

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” (EPHESIANS 8:20)

Glory be to God,

Reverend Helen Trower