For The Love of God!

As we are raising our kids we think about how small they are and how some day they will "Oh say it isn't so' - graduate from High School! Then they will "Heaven Forbid" go off to college! Then even "marriage". That is when the time apparently comes that we get what they call "Empty Nest Syndrome". So somehow we deal with that, hopefully without medication, and then come the golden years where we grow old together. Our children are all at their own homes and it is now just you and your spouse together alone without a care in the world. No worrying about running noses and running fevers. No slammed doors and no slammed fingers in the doors. No selling girl scout cookies and no selling candy for amazingly big prizes. No boyfriends or girlfriends. No late nights up waiting for them to get home. No stressing over test grades or semester grades. No having to be "mama bear" providing protection when needed from those who might not be so nice to your little cubs. Right? What's that you say? That isn't how it works completely? Okay so now I know that my dream world of what the golden years would be like will be somewhat altered. I realize that my crazy worrying self will have more to think on even though they are not right under me. Casey has certainly taught me that in the last few years with all her heartache and the stressful surprising way Avery came into our world. I have been thinking on that today. I was thinking about how much we love our children. We will do anything for them as they grow up. We never want anything bad to happen to them. When hard things do happen to them we hurt. We really really hurt for them. The hurt comes from the love. If you don't love someone you don't hurt for them in that same way. We care about people we don't know and we can be concerned for them of course. That's God given compassion. When you have true love for someone though, that compassion goes much deeper and becomes much more physical. So I said all that to say this. My thoughts today went to God our Father in Heaven. He is the Father of Jesus. Now of course He didnt (doesn't) worry. He is sinless and knows all. He doesn't worry. I strive to be more like that myself. But like us He has love for His Son. As a matter of fact, as much as I LOVE my three wonderful children (and my one son-in-law), God loves His Son so much more than I could ever imagine love could reach. That's a lot, let me tell you, because I love my children more than life. But God's love is amazing. I don't think it is even possible in our human minds to understand the whole truth of that. Actually I know it's not that easy to understand because God's word gives that hint in this awesome prayer. Ephesians 3:14-19 For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom His whole family in Heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge. That you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. The apostle Paul knows that it's gonna take some power for us to grasp this concept of Gods' amazingly great love. I love this prayer and I am so thankful for the love of God my Father. So I am comparing Gods' love for me and my love for my children, which leads me to this scripture. 1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! We are called the Children of God. We are His children and He loves us. He not only loves His Son Jesus, he loves us with that great love. The love of God for His children is great and has been lavished on us. (given greatly in excess) Can we ever know all of His love for us? Even the part we can know, the part we can pray for the power to understand, is SO AMAZING!