Faithful Friday: A Father's Love

I'm taking you back to previous posts, this Father's Day weekend.  Mostly because it's after 5:00 on Friday and I don't want to miss writing another Faithful Friday.  Also because these posts do a pretty good job of summing up all that Tim, my husband, is as a Dad.  (And what a blessing he is!)

Sorry for the blog-hopping.  Consider it a road trip, down our memory lane, from the comfort of your computer.  Happy Father's Day...

For Father's Day... - from Tim's first moments as a father...to heartbreaking loss...to the loving and playful relationship Noah and Tim have now

A Father's Love - the bond that Tim and Austin had

A Private Island - a special trip Tim planned for Noah

Daddy's Boy - Noah and Tim, healing together

A Father's Love Letter

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up. Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived. Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb. Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is Will you be my child? John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Father

Daddy's Boy

Today was filled with multiple mini moments that filled me with joy.  On their own, and to the average eye, they may seem unusually ordinary.  To me, they were the kind of moments that soothe my soul and help to heal my heart.

There was a time I worried what Noah's relationship would be like with his dad.  Shortly after losing Austin, I could sense a distance with Tim from Noah. Perhaps Tim was guarding his heart, afraid to give 110% of himself again, only to lose something he loved more than own life.  Maybe he was just in too much pain to connect with anything -or anyone- at the time.  I understand both of those possibilities completely.

Losing Austin made me cling tighter to Noah though, prayerful and thankful for every single second with him.  To this day, I worry more, hold closer and choose time with him over anything else.  I hug deeper, love stronger, and appreciate each and every precious moment.  From the beginning, if there's anything I gained in our loss, it was a more meaningful and strengthened relationship with Noah.

With Tim, he seemed slower to come out of the fog.  But just as a flower needs sunshine and water to grow, Noah's love was just what he needed.  The laughter Noah brought, and brings to us each day, is medicinal.  Each time he'd wrap his chubby arms around him, I watched another piece of cold melt off him.  Each giggle would warm Tim's heart.  Noah helped heal us both - and still does to this day.

This morning, Tim and Noah spent the morning cuddled in his new bed.  I delivered breakfast to them and they enjoyed it over cartoons.  On the way to the tournament, they spent the drive picking on me, a favorite past time of theirs.  Once home, Noah was Tim's helper in picking up supplies for the yard and the week.  Laughter from outside my open windows caused me to snoop, only to find them tossing a football in the yard.  To myself I thought, "this is a good day" so it only made my smile brighter to hear those exact words from Noah as he came into the house hours later. 

As I said, nothing extraordinary...just your average, every day Sunday with dad and son.  But to me, so very much more.