8 months in...

8 months ago, we had not met our beautiful daughter. As Valentines Day happened, we were totally unsure when BT would be born. There had been no signs and B was already 3 days late - if you know my B, she doesn't do late!!!

Within the next 24 hours our baby girl entered the world. 8 months on and I am totally blown away, on a daily basis, at the privilege and the responsibility and the joy it is to be a father. For sure, it is not all plain sailing. There is much about me as a person that has had to change - I have become more of a morning lark than a night owl for instance - why? because making precious time to spend with my little girl is priceless. I will get other sleep, these moments will go.

It is as I have pondered on this first 8 months that the wonder of being in God's family has once again excited me. I am His child and He looks on me with even more love than I do Rachel. I know that He takes joy in the fact that I am His son. I know that no matter what I do wrong He will love me anyway. I know that my love from Him is unconditional, unfading and unfailing; it is for now, for the future and for eternity; it is high and wide and deep; it is free, unmerited and without strings.

My Rachel knows that if she topples over and bangs her head, then i will come and gather her in my arms and although unable to take the physical pain away, I can carry her until she is once again ready to try and crawl again (most of the time that is a very short amount of time!) She knows that if she cries out for long enough I will come to her. Our God is the same. He picks us up and carries us when we fall, if we let him, and He hears us cry out and responds at the time that He considers right.

This time tomorrow I would have been a father for 8 months; I am so enjoying my relationship with Rachel, and I am so thankful that through this little girl I am also growing in my relationship with my Father in Heaven.

Enjoying fatherhood

Sean spoke today on fatherhood today at church. 6 months ago I would only have been looking forward to what it could be like to be a father. I would have been listening to Sean's talk and taking notes for the time that I would be a father.

Today I sat and drank up all that he had to say, knowing that I now have a little girl who is growing fast. It was great to hear about the fact that I need to love her and to think about the priorities afresh, however the most important thing I will take from this morning will be that I am my daughters priest. I am the one who needs to intercede for her before God. I am not her High Priest as that would be Jesus, but I am her priest. For her, as she grows up to see me reading the bible and praying, knowing that part of that is prayer for her alerted me once more to the great call of fatherhood.

There was so much other good stuff that Sean said this morning and I recommend listening to it here. I know that I have so much to learn but I know that I want to be the father that God is calling me to be and the one that my daughter needs me to be!