A Father's Love

I was never one of those kids who could sleep until noon. As a matter of fact, I remember vividly one Friday night when I was about 9 years old reaching over my friend Sandra who was spending the night with me to make sure my alarm clock was set for somewhere between 7 and 8 a.m. She thought I was crazy. I've continued my habit of early rising my entire life.

One of the best parts about early mornings is the quietness of the house. Growing up (and during visits from college), the only person who would beat me to greet the sun was my Dad. Often times as I would come creeping up the stairs, he'd be sitting on the couch reading his Bible or a book and drinking coffee, and if it was good and cold outside, there would be a fire in the fireplace. What a special, cozy memory. I loved these moments because I got such good quality time with my Dad. We would sit for an hour or two talking about life, God, dreams, love, books, and whatever else was going on with me in that phase of my life. I enjoyed these moments of learning from Dad's wisdom, sharing my frustrations, discussing my future so much that even on mornings when I felt like sleeping in, it was usually worth the dragging myself out of bed for the quality time.

Recently my accountability group of girlfriends and I were talking about prayer. I'll be the first to admit that I do not pray enough... I do quick prayers here and there, often praying in my car on the way to work, but it's too infrequent that I get some really good quality time with God. Generally it is because I'm just "so busy". But as we were talking about this, I was reminded of my mornings with my Dad. My desire to be with him, to learn from him, to share with him were worth the lack of sleep. I want to get to a point in my relationship with God that my desire to be in His presence is equally as important to me...even if it requires a sacrifice of my sleep, time, energy. I want to experience Him as the Father that He is.