Memory 1: Silent communication in church
When I sat beside my dad in church, he would squeeze my hand twice which meant he was asking, “Love me?”
I would return two squeezes to say, “Uh huh.”
His next two squeezes translated, “How much?”
I would squeeze his hand with my two as hard as I could to express my love for the man I most admired. Then, I’d re-start the silent conversation by asking him the first question in the sequence. I’d stifle giggles when he’d wrap my hand in his and apply gentle pressure to indicate how much he loved me. Those sweet exchanges ended with my dad looking down at me with a big smile. The memory still wraps me in love.
Sadly, positive expressions of a father’s love are not treasured memories for everyone. Even at best, the love of earthly fathers is far from perfect, but God, the heavenly Father, sends perfect love messages to us in John 3:16 and many other parts of the Bible.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 ESV
Memory 2: An oops moment on the lake
On a sunny afternoon when I was ten, I enjoyed alone time with my dad. I sat on the front seat of the small fishing boat and held my fly rod and reel. Daddy, an expert angler, paddled around the lake and gave instructions. My fly fishing skills improved, but I longed to make the fly land gently on the water near the grassy bank as my dad did.
One time when I drew the rod back with grace and tried to cast it forward, the line didn’t come. I tried again. You guessed it. I had snagged my poor dad’s scalp with the hook of the artificial bait. After hollering, “Stop!” and quickly grabbing the green nylon line to prevent my continued pulling, Daddy dislodged the source of his pain, absorbed blood with his handkerchief, nodded to assure me he was okay, and paddled the boat quickly back across the lake.
He wasn’t always that patient, but knowing how badly I felt, he acted as if it were a minor mishap. Mishap? Yes. Painful? You bet! He probably took my brother on the next fishing excursion.
Although earthly fathers are sometimes patient and sometimes not, God is patient with us. He loves us and offers a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus. My dad was a wonderful dad, but God is the perfect Father.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
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