Abba, I belong to you
Abba, I belong to You. Abba! I have allowed the fact I can address You with such intimacy and tenderness to become far too plain and pallid. It has been years since I have allowed myself to wonder and gawk at the fact You have given me a spirit of Sonship by which I can address you as "Abba Father!" (Rom. 8:15)
I have known for too long or too familiarly that "Abba" is the equivalent of our English "Daddy". I have known that children would slowly learn the term Abba to address their father with an intimate tenderness. I have known it was and has been a scandal to the pious and righteous that you would be addressed with such intimacy.
That You who created this world out of the power of your voice, You by whose beauty and glory the Grand Canyon is dwarfed, You who hold all things together in life-sustaining precision, would ask to be addressed in such tenderly intimate terms has truly become too common and plain to me.
This is my confession and my repentance today. May I recognize and rest today in the wonder of the intimate spirit within me, who can address you so tenderly as my Abba!
The Angry Man: another letter to my daughters and my women students
Today I read several warnings against the angry person in Proverb 29. There are frequent reminders of the wickedness of an angry person (vs 2). There is warning of the angry person's tendency toward stirring things up (22). The angry person will frequently and/or suddenly lose his temper like a fool (11) instead of having the life skill (wisdom) of holding back. He will always be quick and hasty to speak instead of thinking things out before he opens his mouth (20). The primary issue does come down to pride, and it will always bring the man (and anyone connected to him) lower and lower down (23). There is less as less humility in the angry man's life because he refuses to hear and listen to the helpful reproof given to them from people they trust to speak into their life (1,9,15). While only by God's grace, I find less of these things wrecking my heart, and I only say that with a knock on wood, I could not help but think of you as I read today. I could not help but fast forward to the days you begin dating and considering marriage.
My prayer for you today, and my hope for you, and my statement to you today is:
I can all but beg you to stay away from a man (a boy) who gets angry often OR suddenly. This is a HEART issue (Matthew 5:21-22), and he will not change.
God's grace is miraculous and can change the heart, but you cannot. The man who is angry and does not listen to the challenge of wiser people is NEVER GOING TO CHANGE if you just hold on to the benefit of a doubt and you will continually be brought into that pride, anger, and foolishness as you keep yourself around.
Understand what I am saying; they CAN change, but they WILL not change. Understand the difference between these two. If they. CAN change, leave them be until they do. Otherwise, you are caught in the storm, and it will paIn me greatly to walk with you there.
Note to self: for fathers of daughters
Every dream, pretend, and imaginative story!
Every time she calls you her best friend and her prince.
When she wants to 'help' you work in the garage
or cry over nothing.
These are invitations
for which your actions cannot help but RSVP
If you continue declining the invitations they will grow less frequent and I fear you may not be invited to the real moments of her teenage years
When we and my daughters are in the way
I was installing floating shelves in the bathroom
the sight of daddy's tools draws my daughter
"I want to help, Dadda!"
By this, she means, "I want to see what you are doing,
and be where you are."
She began to take tools away from my work space
She picked up necessary screws and hardware
She is not helping. She was in my way. But my love would not turn her away
Jesus said, "My Father is always at work...the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do ONLY what he sees His Father doing...For the Father loves the Son and shows him all He does." (John 15:17, 19-20)
My God, I know you are at work around me all the time. While I realize I am only going to slow you down and get in your way I trust that you love me and purposely show me what you are doing. I want to join you. I want to be a part of what you are doing and be where you are.
Why my 2 year old needs makeup
I was washing dishes, and Bryleigh came into the kitchen saying, "I'm putting on make up, Dadda, to be pretty." I asked, "What?" in that way fathers do when they know exactly what they said.
"I'm still putting on make up. I'm not pretty yet, Dadda."
There are moments as a father, which are weightier than others, and you have to be present enough to catch. This is one of those moments.
I realize my daughter has dug into her mother's makeup bag because it is fun to do what mom does, but her statement struck my heart in a way I would not pass over. This was an opportunity.
"You do not need makeup to be pretty, Bryleigh. You are so pretty."
That was not hard to say nor did it take but a few moments of being present enough to seize. My 2 year old playfully saying, "I'm still putting on make up. I'm not pretty yet, Dadda" was an opportunity to be a Dad before there is an emotional belief behind that statement.
I am not against my daughter putting on make up (later), but I am vehemently against my daughter ever believing she needs makeup to be pretty.
2012 in review of ragamuffinpc.com
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here's an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 13,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 3 Film Festivals