Daddy’s got you

I have just had an amazing time with my family today, especially my daughter. It is amazing how life can be so hectic, but when you take the time to really enjoy what God has put around you, you understand that little bit more just how God sees us.

Rachel and her mum took the kids swimming last Sunday and they had a nice time but the kids were a bit of a hand full. Elijah was crying most of the time and Naomi kept getting out to try have a run around the side of the pool – much to the despair of her mum, might I add!

All in all, I think it was a battle won in the journey of feeling comfortable around water and learning to swim (well that’s was Rachel’s declaration over the event).

Today though, Daddy was there. Rachel took Naomi in first and I followed with Elijah. Immediately on seeing the pool, Elijah starts to scream! ‘Great! What a start!’ I thought to myself and then immediately reassured him that daddy was here and he didn’t need to worry. Got him in the surprisingly warm water and he was all of a sudden quite happy. Naomi got straight back out of the pool and poised herself to make a run for it, but when she realised we were all in the water having a good time, she came straight back in with armbands flapping.

We tried swimming around a little, and by swimming I mean a cross between doggy paddle and a desperate cry for help, then made it to the other side of the pool where some little kids we jumping in. Being the dad, my response was ‘come on Naomi, are you going to jump in too!’. To put into context, Naomi still cries every time we wash her hair cause she hates the water in her face. Although, this time she seems quite happy to start off by sitting on the side and drop in. She was having so much fun I got her to stand up and said ‘Jump In Naomi!’. At this she was a little less comfortable and stood sheepishly staring at me. “you can do it, come on, it’s fun, daddy’s got you”…… and she jumped in! She didn’t take too well to her head going under the water at first, but Rach and I were cheering, giving her a cuddle, saying well done and she began to laugh “Again, Again!!”.

This whole trip for me was summed up in those few words ‘daddy’s got you’.

From the moment we started in the pool, my children were different. Now I know some swimming coaches out there will want to say that it is natural progression for a child to go back and then be comfortable in the water, and yes, I would agree with that. But today had nothing to do with Naomi’s confidence with water, it was to do with her confidence with me.

Father’s are the only people that can truly impart identity into a person. I believe this comes from the very father heart of God as our creator and the one who forms us in our mother’s wombs. Rachel is currently pregnant with our third child, so I now all about the work that goes on within the mother to form the child. But as soon as that baby is born, the words that with have the greatest impact on their life will be their father’s.

The only words I ever hope to be greater then mine in our children are those of God. He is the one who seeks out the fatherless to pour out his love and mercy. He is the one who gives life, identity and meaning to us all.

When we have our identity, it is then we decide not ‘If i should jump’ but ‘when and where shall I jump’. Life is one amazing adventure laid out before us, with the greatest limits being those we place on ourselves. God gave us a life so that we can jump into it and experience every good thing he has created. Wherever you want to go, whatever your dream is, whatever your heart yearns for, when we do it with God – ‘daddy’s got you’.

He is there to be with you every step of the way, doesn’t mean nothing bad will ever happen to us, but it does mean that nothing will every overcome us!

Live Your Life With Purpose!!

God has made you ‘for such a time as this’. Don’t sit down and watch it pass you by but grab life by the horns and go for the ride of your life.

You can transform your family, your school, your university, your workplace, your country, the world. Make a start now because it’s not long until you reach the rest of eternity.