Emmanuel Episcopal Church

This morning my youngest daughter and I went on a date.  We went to the fairgrounds to ride bikes, but really the most fun came as we paused by the ditch which runs by Gate 4.  There we stayed for quite a while making boats out of leaves and racing sticks down the rapids.  The location was not exceptional and the activity was not remarkable, but the time I had with my daughter was wonderful.  We played and enjoyed one another and it was in the simple things that we enjoyed together that the richness of relationship was rekindled.  It was such a great time with her.  It reminded me how precious she is to me. 

Our Christian lives work the same way.  It is in the small things that our relationship with God can be kindled.  These small things can be a prayer, a moment of solitude, or seeing the beauty of God’s handiwork.  If we invite God into these moments they can be the opportunity to grow deep in our love for God.  Moments like these are important because we know that no relationship is static.  Every relationship is either growing or declining.  As seen in the quote above, God desires relationship.  He wants us to be devoted to Him and follow Him out of love.  God asked the Israelites to remember the time when they loved Him and spent time with Him.  He asks the same of us today.  He invites us to spend time with Him, to invite Him into our menial tasks.  He wants to be there with us in the simple and the complex.  And He wants us to remember how much we love Him. 

I so enjoyed my time with Ella.  It was a great day, but it is not the end of our relationship.  I can’t live on that event forever, I need to find time and create opportunities to continue to grow closer to her as her father.  It is a pleasure to do this.  My hope for us as a community is that we will create time and space to grow closer to our heavenly Father; that we will seek Him and joyfully walk with Him, and that, as we do this, He would fill us with His transforming love. 

In Christ