But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:7
21st Century King James Version (KJ21)
How have I never met you my child but yet I know you?
Being a parent is strange. Loving as a parent is even stranger. It is both a physical and intangible reaction that washes over you when you meet your child for the first time. It is new, exciting, euphoric, and intimidating simultaneously. It is not just the birth of your child but a rebirth for you, as a parent.
Once I was a person who was impatient, stubborn, defensive, and suspicious of everyone. This was my shield, this was my protection from feeling pain and disappointment. Fast forward to the day I met my husband, my world view changed drastically. Meeting my husband was like meeting my dream. Fast forward again to the day I met my son, my world exploded and a life revelation happened for me. All else I had experienced up to that point looked different. It was like I had new eyes to see. I am still an impatient, stubborn, moderately defensive and suspicious person BUT there is a distinguishable shift to new found patience and love towards my son and others.
The more I watch my son grow I take notice in his emerging personality, how he expresses emotions, and his need for constant affection.
The more I watch the more I see others as my son.
The more I watch the more I realize everyone is someone’s son or daughter.
Everyone is someone’s baby. This has given me new levels of compassion and empathy for humanity.
I imagine this is how God intended parenthood to be. It is to serve as a revelation of the life he specifically designed for his greatest creation, in his own image. I now believe, God knew, as his children, we would be caught up with the world and ourselves trying to figure out where we belong and what we are meant to be and for what purpose. I believe he knew we would go astray. However, he also knew that eventually we’d come to understand what he’s been telling us all along, that he is the way and the light. He is the ultimate patient parent.
He allows us free will to mess up, do our worst, travel alone but always patiently waiting for us to find him again, or to find him for the first time. We are his children. We are to him as my son is to me. He knows this from the beginning and this is why he gives unconditional love to all of his children. Perhaps, God transforms us into parents so that we can finally realize fully the depths of his love for us. A parents love.