He sat at the round bistro table, feet dangling from his chair. His white socks stretched to his knees, legs swaying, eagerly waiting for a slice of pizza to satisfy his little appetite.
His tiny mouth puckered around the tip of a straw sipping orange soda while his big, round, dark eyes looked sideways toward his daddy. He sipped then spoke, sometimes placing his little face in front of his daddy’s eyes.
Deep in conversation they were. The little one asking questions about many topics. He had an array of queries about history, math, sports — you name it — he was covering everything and his daddy paid close attention to every detail of every sentence.
Never once did I see a smart phone sitting on their table or in the hands of the father. Not even to record the special moment with a snap of the camera. His undivided attention focused on his son. The little one with the dark spiked hair and toothless grin was of utmost importance to his daddy and the little guy was comfortable in his presence.
If he squirmed or got restless, his daddy responded with gentleness for his son to stay patient for just a little longer.
He watched his father closely and emulated him. Where his dad placed his napkin, his fork and his drink, the boy did the same.
After sinking his teeth into his first bite of pizza the little boy’s big dark eyes grew bigger. Glancing at daddy, he tapped his shoulder and said a simple, “Thank you.”
The daddy leaned toward his son, smiled and wiped a little sauce from the boy’s face. The loving affection for his son was clear and the son sat securely and comfortably in that love.
Their exchange was inspiring.
Is my relationship with my Father in Heaven that comfortable?
Jesus called God the warm; intimate child-like Aramaic word, Abba Father, a tender, endearing name (like papa or daddy would be). It’s a perfect example of the affectionate, dependent relationship He had with His Father.
And He wants that for us too.
No lofty prayer, no special words, no cleaning up is necessary before we sit in our Father’s presence. He’ll wipe our stains clean through Christ.
We can just be ourselves. We can ask questions. We can share our needs. We can say thank you for His unconditional love and for His constant encouragement to reach higher and become better.
And even when we don’t speak, He reads our hearts and responds to our deepest needs.
The good Father challenges us to let go of indifference and to reach, stretch, share and love — like He does.
The hard places discipline us under His careful watch and lead us to say yes to His yes instead of shaking our heads in defiance.
When we say yes to His yes, I bet He smiles.
When He says no to us, I hope we understand that He has only our best interest in mind.
When we ask Him for our heart’s desires, sometimes His answers come as YES, sometimes they come as NO and sometimes they come as NOT NOW — just wait.
But it’s not about the answers. Not really. It’s about Him and our relationship with Him and when we realize that’s all we really need, it becomes enough.
Blessings! Nancy © 2015
Pens and Journals 
I love that our Abba just wants to be with us. He doesn’t need us the way He created us to need others and ultimately Him. He wanted us and continually wants and seeks us. That keeps me going every moment. I am wanted by my King of Kings and Lord Almighty. When I get sad due to the junk of this world, I rest on Him and know that I am His baby girl forever! Thanks for sharing this.
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I love this, Nancy. We have a wonderful heavenly Daddy, don’t we?
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We sure do have a wonderful heavenly Daddy! Thank you.
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So touching to read of this father’s love for his son…..it breaks my heart to know there are so many children that don’t get that love and attention from their earthly fathers. And so thankful we can all receive that love from God our Father.
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I agree with you, Bonnie. It’s heartbreaking but God can and does fill the void to become the perfect Father for all of us. God Bless you! ❤ I don’t know why this comment ended up here but when I try to fix it — it doesn’t work!
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May you be richly blessed!
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Thank you Tom! Blessings to you and yours as well.
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Articulate post. Your photo drew me in, btw.
Abba is my favorite salutation, also. Brennan Manning unfolded the depth of that name for me in Ragamuffin Gospel and it has stuck. It encapsulates parental love in a word.
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I’m glad you were drawn in. Thank you for reading it and for your comment, Kathryne. I also read Ragamuffin Gospel years ago. Your comment makes me want to re-read it now. 🙂
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Beautiful! We have so many distractions to keep us from our heavenly Father, but the relationship can be as beautiful as the father and son in your story. ,
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I agree with you about all the distractions and also about how beautiful our relationship with our heavenly Father can be if we allow it. Thanks for reading and for your comment, Diane. ❤
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Nancy, I hope the loving father and son situation you described isn’t as rare as I fear it may be. And I love the analogy you made about our intimacy with God—yes, it’s about the relationship,not the answers we’re waiting for. I need to remember this more.
Blessings ~ Wendy
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Good to hear from you, Wendy. The exchange between father and son that day was truly refreshing to see. If only there were more scenes like that to witness in our world today! I need to remember that our Abba Father desires that same intimacy with us and revisiting this post helps me to keep my focus in the right direction. Thank you so much for your comment.
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