Walking the path

(2-minute read)

Before our first child was born, I would not have known what to say if anyone had asked why I wanted children. It never seemed to be the right time financially, and I didn’t know if I could be a good father. When our first child, Debi, was born, everything changed the first time I saw her. Suddenly, a needed part of my life I didn’t know was missing was there.

About 3 months later, I came home from work, and when I walked into the room where she was, she suddenly looked at me and became extremely excited. She started flailing her arms, smiling, and making little giggly baby noises. She recognized me and became very happy. We were both thrilled. Our relationship changed forever. I had loved her since she was born, but I felt she accepted me on this day. Nine years later, when our son, Stephen, was born, the same thing happened with similar timing.

After our children were born, if anyone asked why I wanted children, it would not be because I needed my children to do anything for me. Love naturally produces a feeling of need. I needed them to be safe, healthy, and happy. Like most parents, I was willing to sacrifice a bit of current happiness for their future happiness.

“I know you hate math, but you’re going to need it and one day be happy that you’ve learned this stuff,” all the while knowing that no matter what you say, they think they’ll just use their phone or a computer.

One of the surprising things about having children is that when someone does something nice for them, it makes me happy, as if they had done it for me. If someone does something mean to them, it upsets me even more than if they had done it to me. Speaking of us as his children, the Lord says that whatever we do to the least of these is as if we did it to him. I’m not sure what he means by the least of these, but I suspect it includes those who do things or have a lifestyle I would not approve of. God loves his children even when they’re not perfect.

Having so often heard that God loves me, it has lost some of its meaning. People say it and even sing it all the time. It is too frequently said by people who don’t appear to believe it. Do I think that God needs me? To say God needs me seems irrational. If we hadn’t heard it so often, we would think God loving us is irrational. In human understanding, love is not logical but is the essence of God’s world. He loves us even more than we love our children. God is love, and we are his children.