Hope For Today

Dear Friends, I love my children and will sometimes say to them "You are my favourite son/daughter."  The response I usually get from them is a groan or rolling of the eyes and "Mu-um, I'm your only son/daughter."  I tell them, "Yes, but you're still my favourite!"  It's my way of letting them know how much I love them, how precious, how special they are to me.  For me, it's a picture of how I believe God loves each one of us.  He loves me in such a way that he says to me, "You're my favourite!"  And I believe he loves you in such a way too and says "You're my favourite!". God loves each one of us with an incredible, incomparable, unconditional love.  A love that goes beyond the ordinary.  A love that is pure and selfless.  A genuine love.  A love that is beyond our understanding.  He loves us each individually and considers us all his favourite. I love words and I love the word used to describe how Go...

Dear Friends, I want to share with you one of the ways that my Dad communicated his love for me when I was a young child.  Whenever we were out walking I used to like holding his hand and at some point along the walk my Dad would give my hand a gentle squeeze, it was his code for "I love you", then I would return the squeeze to say (again without words) "I love you too." As a child holding her Daddy's hand, not only did I know I was loved, I knew I was safe and protected. If I was afraid of something, like walking past a big dog I would cling tightly to his hand until I felt the "danger" had passed, and I could relax my grip. When I tripped on a crooked pavement or slipped on an icy patch, my Daddy would keep me from falling.  He gave me security, I knew that anything that might want to hurt me would have to get past my Daddy first. There was no place better to be than in my Daddy's hands. My Dad's love for me as his child reminds me of m...