Just the other day…I folded
myself onto the red and white Christmas float, ready to brave the cold,
wave at strangers, and hold my five year old, Abbie, in my lap as she
participated in her first Christmas parade. Sitting “criss-cross” is
not something I do often, so about twenty minutes in, my legs started
going numb. I realized very quickly…I am much older than the last time I
was in a Christmas parade! Besides that, I actually loved getting to
wave and smile and yell out “Merry Christmas!!!” along with the precious
little girls sitting beside me. It would have been an entirely magical
night, even with my legs going numb, except for the fact that Abbie kept
asking me over and over and over, “Where is Daddy? When will we see
Daddy? Are we close to seeing Daddy yet?”
To say the child loves her Daddy is quite the understatement. The affection, I assure you, is mutual. In fact, when I arrived home from an event last week, the one tree in our front yard was decked out with blinking multi-colored lights, although everything else is “white lights only”. Why the colored lights on that particular tree? Well, because Abbie asked for them, that’s why, and my Abbie has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!! It’s that mutual affection, I tell you!
To say the child loves her Daddy is quite the understatement. The affection, I assure you, is mutual. In fact, when I arrived home from an event last week, the one tree in our front yard was decked out with blinking multi-colored lights, although everything else is “white lights only”. Why the colored lights on that particular tree? Well, because Abbie asked for them, that’s why, and my Abbie has her daddy wrapped around her little finger!! It’s that mutual affection, I tell you!
So, the questioning regarding the whereabouts of her beloved daddy was continuous and constant. Abbie was tolerating the hundreds of others along the parade route, but who she really wanted to see was her dad!
“We’ll be there soon, Abbie, just wave. It makes people happy to see you waving at them.”
“Daddy’s here. I know he’s looking for you, too! Just wait, it won’t be long.”
“Not too much further. You’ll see him!”
The longer she didn’t see him, the more impatient she became; and the more impatient she became, the shorter answers I gave (you know how it goes). Children are persistent! They won’t give up! They will, by golly, get an answer!!
Finally, I knew we were getting close to where he said he would be sitting. I saw familiar buildings, so I told her to start looking.
“He’s close!” I said...”Just ahead.”
We both sat up straighter. She and I scanned the crowd over and over, but didn’t see him. I frantically searched each face as we seemed to whiz by, even though 30 seconds prior we had seemed to be crawling. Just as I thought we must have missed him and prepared to break the bad news, there he was, standing tall and smiling big with his camera in hand.
Abbie spotted her daddy, gave him a joyful smile back, and immediately brought her hand to her mouth and blew him a huge air-kiss.
(Is your heart melting right now? Mine, too!)
Later that night, I was thinking over the events of the day when God, so sweetly, did a little prodding of my heart. You see, He and I have a conversation going on right now…one in which I continuously ask, “God, what are You doing with me?” and He answers with...
S I L E N C E
Ever been through that with Him? It’s difficult. It’s confusing.
In many ways, I’m just like my little Abbie when it comes to getting answers to my prayers. I know in time, I’ll see and understand. But it’s the waiting that’s getting to me…
"WHERE'S DADDY?!" I ask.
I ask over and over and over. I've been asking it for a while.
"When will I see?"
"When will I understand?"
He might be getting a little impatient with me...;)
But, He took me to a Christmas parade and let me have a special moment with my little girl and her daddy so that He could show me...and now you...this - -
He is just up ahead.
It's not much further.
Keep a look out. Sit up straight and search the crowd.
See the signs. Keep trusting. Get excited!
He is not hiding. He's in plain sight.
At the right moment, the clarity...the "seeing"...the understanding will come. And all this waiting? It will seem to have been like a fleeting shadow, much less dramatic and daunting than it is to you at the present time.
And what about that moment you realize the wait is over, that He has answered your heart's cry?
What about THAT moment...the one where your invisible faith meets a tangible reality?
Undoubtedly, when that time comes, you'll take note...
that He is there...
your Father...
smiling back at you.
You'll be settled...refreshed...and you'll understand that it is all just as He planned.
And who knows, you might even be tempted to blow Him an air-kiss...;)
"WHERE'S DADDY?!" I ask.
I ask over and over and over. I've been asking it for a while.
"When will I see?"
"When will I understand?"
He might be getting a little impatient with me...;)
But, He took me to a Christmas parade and let me have a special moment with my little girl and her daddy so that He could show me...and now you...this - -
He is just up ahead.
It's not much further.
Keep a look out. Sit up straight and search the crowd.
See the signs. Keep trusting. Get excited!
He is not hiding. He's in plain sight.
At the right moment, the clarity...the "seeing"...the understanding will come. And all this waiting? It will seem to have been like a fleeting shadow, much less dramatic and daunting than it is to you at the present time.
And what about that moment you realize the wait is over, that He has answered your heart's cry?
What about THAT moment...the one where your invisible faith meets a tangible reality?
Undoubtedly, when that time comes, you'll take note...
that He is there...
your Father...
smiling back at you.
You'll be settled...refreshed...and you'll understand that it is all just as He planned.
And who knows, you might even be tempted to blow Him an air-kiss...;)
May God's unimaginable love surround you this Christmas!!!
