Daddy's Girl

Watching her at the restaurant it was evidently clear, she worshiped her daddy. Every sentence out her mouth started with daddy. Such an adorable 5 year old. "daddy look how big I am" "daddy, look I'm not making a mess" What she was really saying is "daddy, do you see me? Are you proud of me?" She sat across from him in her little white dress, and it was so clear; She felt special, she was spending time with her daddy. As I watched them sitting at the table together I realized, her father was wrapped up in every word she said. He was laughing with her, encouraging her and affirming what a big girl she was.

At one point she picked up the large bottle of soy sauce on the table and began to tip it towards the corner of her plate where the brown rice lay. Her tiny hands could barely grasp the bottle and as I watched I immediately thought of the bright white dress she was wearing. Would she spill? Can she handle it? This soy sauce would surely stain if even a drop hit the white fabric. But dad in his ever so patient and gentle manner encouraged her even more...."tip it more" he said with confidence "you can do it" the soy sauce episode was a success. She did it. All on her own. She was a big girl. Her eyes lit up as she looked at her daddy who sat there smiling at his daughter. She didn't know yet what a big moment this was for her, that these moments of independence were laying a foundation for her to become a confident, and strong woman. And her daddy, was the witness. He knew what was going on, how she was growing. He knows things she will not know for a long time, and he guides based on what he knows. He guides out of love.

It got me thinking about my father (Not the one here on earth) but the daddy who created me from the heavens. I thought about his love and how I feel like that little girl. I'm constantly picking up the soy sauce of my life. Its big, its unstable in my little hands, it has the potential to stain....but when my father so gently pushes me forward, he asks me to do something that may feel uncomfortable, that may feel unreachable , that surely feels foreign....he does it because he knows. He knows what this moment means for me, he knows what it will mean for my future as I continue to grow. He's not afraid of the stains, he knows they may happen, he actually knows when they will happen. And he's prepared to handle my frustration when I stain my dress....though his heart may be saddened as he watches me mourn over my small stain, he sees the bigger picture, he sees the beautiful white dress I'm growing into, that the one I'm wearing today is just for this season and he loves me where I'm at. He guides because he loves, he allows stains because with every stain I learn and grow more. Its only a small part of the bigger picture of my heart. And he knows my heart. He created it. He loves my heart.

So here we sit, God and me. He sits across the table smiling at me, until the day he takes my hand and says just as this daddy in the restaurant. "Come on, let's go home"