Delighting in My Children as My Father Delights in Me: Guest Post by Erika Shelton Castiglione

A special welcome to guest blogger Erika Shelton Castiglione today!  Reminding us what the Father's love is like...

A few weeks ago I attended an Open House in my middle son’s kindergarten class. It was a very simple affair and yet I found myself close to tears on several occasions. I love the way he draws people: a big circle for a head, then two legs that extend from the head, then arms coming off the legs, and, usually, light-sabers at the ends of the arms (apparently light-sabers are more important than torsos). I think his phonetic spelling is adorable. I loved watching him recite Joshua 1:9 (with motions) and I loved the way he beamed with pride, his hidden dimple coming out on his right cheek, as he walked me from station to station, showing me the things he is learning.

This strange and wonderful emotion has overwhelmed frequently as a parent. Though it is similar to love, I think the word “delight” describes it more accurately. I remember staring at my firstborn daughter and thinking that in all my life I had never seen anything more beautiful—no sunset, no beach, no mountain, no work of art. In my mind, nothing could compare with her loveliness. I still feel that way when I see any of my children sleeping, or flushed with joy or accomplishment, or giggling. When my youngest son grabs my face in his hands and pulls me close to entrust his secrets to me, I melt. I have been blessed to know the comfort of my parents’ love, the life-giving camaraderie of siblings and close friends, I have had crushes and I have fallen in love, but until I had children, I had never delighted in another person in this particular way. I never knew a simple milestone could undo me, I never knew that I could be so proud of the tiniest step forward.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not as if it’s always a love-fest at our house. There are plenty of times when I am glad I am not on film and my children are far from perfect, but, even still, I am surprised that I am capable of these feelings. I don’t have to work for them; in fact, they overwhelm me without warning. Even though I am often full of insecurity, cowardice, pride, and a host of other sins, I still long for what is best is for my children. Why can’t I always see that my Heavenly Father, who does not have the same limitations as me, perfectly loves and delights in me?

One of my favorite passages about God’s parental love is Hosea 11:3-4, “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with bands of human kindness, with cords of love. I treated them like those who lift infants to their cheeks; I bent down to them and fed them.” (Common English Version) Long before He gave us the parable of the prodigal son, God paints Himself as a rejected Father who can’t help but love the children he fed, those he taught to walk, those whose wounds he healed. When presenting a picture of a restored Israel at the end of Isaiah, He compares His love to the comfort of a mother (Isaiah 66:13). Author Brennan Manning says, “If you took the love of all the best fathers and mothers who have ever lived (think about that for a moment)-all the goodness, kindness, fidelity, wisdom, tenderness, strength, and love-and united all those virtues in one person, that person would only be a faint shadow of the love and mercy in the heart of God for you and me.”

My sons have not yet figured out that I can’t carry a tune (unfortunately I can’t say the same for their older sister) and at night, as they lay in their bunk beds, with only the light from the hallway, they often ask me to sing. Tired from the demands of the day, my mind always goes back to the simple praise songs I learned in high school and college. The other night, while giving my “special” rendition of “I love you, Lord,” I was reminded of Zephaniah 3:17, “The LORD your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory. He will create calm with his love; he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Common English Version) Could it really be that while I was singing over them, God was singing over me? I truly believe that if we could more clearly comprehend the lavish love our Heavenly Father has for us, our whole lives would change. I pray that those of us who have been made aware of the magnificent, crazy truth that we are the object of our creator’s delight, would press on it to believe his love, live in his truth, and give his grace to others.