We gave our kids a dog yesterday as an early Christmas present. After years of their consistent (somewhat torturous) begging, we prayed (and prayed) and decided it was finally time. And she’s a sweet one.
You know the best part? The anticipation as the parent. Knowing that we were about to give our kids what their hearts had desired for years, brought such joy to my mother-heart. And then seeing their faces when they realized “she’s ours?!” proved priceless.
But they had to wait. They had to wait for years, and to a kid a year is nearly a decade.
As I stood outside with our new family pet, just before ringing the doorbell to instigate the screams, I remembered, “God, you love to bless me.” He loves to bless His children.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
We may not grasp His timing. We may hate His timing. We may not understand the road we have to walk. But His father-heart loves to bless. And often, His greatest blessings are the ones we experience in the valleys of brokenness.
He’s moving out of love. It may not feel that way today, but truth overrides our feelings. As we choose to look at life through the lens of His character, hope can rise up from any ashes.
Fill me, Lord…
How has He proven His love to you recently?
How does believing His love as the motivation for all of His movement in your life change your outlook?
What a sweet story, thank you for sharing! I remember the first pup our family brought home… this post was a sweetly reminiscient of that time 🙂
Ahh, Lara. I clicked on this post with skepticism. I dread the “can we get a dog?” discussions to come.
Yet, you’ve blessed me with God’s truth once again. Thank you for continually pointing us to Him. So thankful we have a God we can trust, that we can KNOW His truth by studying His word, and that this truth trumps our feelings.
This morning I woke up and said “God, I know that You are righteous and holy and what you’re doing is for my ultimate good in my sanctification. I get that this [situation I’m in] is painful in order to strip me of my idolatry. But I have lost sight of your Fatherhood. I don’t know how You, as a loving Father, could be doing this. Help.”
And then I read this in my Google Reader: “He’s moving out of love. It may not feel that way today, but truth overrides our feelings.”
Sarah, some things in this life are so deeply painful, it’s nearly impossible to remember the love of our Father-God. I pray that He ministers hope within you today, beneath the pain and emotion that inevitably come with valleys. He does love you, sister. And He will work this together for the good of those who love Him (He promised!). Press in and press on, my friend.
Oh, this was exactly what I needed to be reminded of today. Thank you!