Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Daddy's smile

Grand Sweep Daily Reading: Jeremiah 1, 2, 3; Psalm 110

Psalm 34:8 (NIV)

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

Psalm 119:103 (NIV)

103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Good morning!

When I got home from work last night, I opened my email account and was delighted to see two messages; one from my daughter and one from my niece, attaching pictures of their children on Snapfish®. This website provides a way to download photographs from a digital camera and share them with the people you know and love. I am convinced I have the cutest grandchildren and great nieces ever!

I selected the slideshow option for each set and watched their stories unfold – it’s kind of like viewing a silent movie in Technicolor! I laughed out loud when I saw the pizza pie bakeoff with my grandchildren, Joshua and Emily. I remember purchasing a Chef Boy Ardee® box pizza mix and letting my own children learn how to make pizza pies. It was great fun watching five-year-old Joshua and three-year-old Emily put their first pizza pie together. They started by opening the box and mixing the dough. The next step was trying to figure out how to spread that sticky dough on the pan. Finally, the sauce was poured and the pepperonis artistically placed on top of the lumpy concoction. I loved the oven pictures! Joshua and Emily are leaning over next to the lighted window, watching the pizza cook! Oh, they just couldn’t wait to eat it! Be careful kids – that cheese will be hot! Then, the magical moment we’ve been waiting for arrives – the timer buzzes and that strange-looking pepperoni pizza is taken out of the oven! Can you smell it? Joshua and Emily got to taste the fruit of their labor for the very first time. It’s a pizza pie - Yummy! I must confess that my all-time favorite picture in the group was the very last one. My son-in-law Dave was chewing on a piece of homemade pepperoni pizza, grinning from ear to ear, and he had one thumb up in the air. Daddy loves it! He loved it because his children made it especially for him! I can assure you that pizza pie was not very pretty. Dave treated it as if it were a lavish five-course meal; the best pizza pie he had ever tasted. There is no doubt this father loves his children very much. You can see it in that silly smile on his sweet, pizza-pie face.

I couldn’t help but think about just how much God loves each one of us. He is our heavenly Father, and even though we cannot always see Him clearly, I know He smiles back! When we choose to taste His Word, we find it is sweeter than honey. When we honor the Lord with our life, the Scripture teaches that our offerings rise up to the heavens as a sweet, fragrant scent. Our Heavenly Father consumes the praises of His children and loves us, even when our half-baked effort falls short of perfection. That picture of my son-in-law (which should be captioned Father-Of-The Year) reminds me of the smile radiating from my heavenly Father’s face. God is smiling back! He loves your heart. He knows your name. He is smiling at you! Can you see His face clearly this morning?

I wonder if we will share homemade pizza pie at the banquet table prepared for us in heaven. I want to be able to consume that heavenly manna without fear of gaining weight or having a sugar swing. Yes, I would like that a lot. Honestly, I can’t wait to see the smile on my Daddy’s face as I enter into His presence and lay my humble offering at His feet. It won’t be perfect until He perfects me in His love; yet, He will know my heart and see how much I love and adore Him. I will be looking for that “thumbs up” signal from my Daddy. Just seeing His smile will make this life worthwhile. And that is a picture I will treasure forever!

Grace and peace,

Deb Spaulding

www.songofdeborah.com

Pray for: a glimpse of the Father’s smile. He loves His children so very much. Offer Him your very best today and know that the Lord of life is smiling back at you with one thumb up!

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© Copyright 2007, Deb Spaulding

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