Hello Friends!

One of my favorite people in the world is my husband, the father of our children. He is funny, full of joy, loving, kind, and occasionally serious😊. He started loving me far before I was aware, and he hasn’t stopped. He makes us laugh at the oddest moments and makes life a party. Even though our life choices call for a lot of work—somehow it never feels like work when he’s around because of his whistle, puns, timely quips.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I wanted you to see several hints about the crazy love of this man. Okay, no pedestals—he’s normal. Human, a  sinner like the rest of us. But we truly adore him around here for great reasons.

So you can imagine my surprise the day he was cutting some trees on our property, years ago. He’d been wielding his chainsaw for a while. I was bustling around inside, folding laundry, caring for children, etc., when I decided to take David a jar of water. It wasn’t our norm of—I see him, he sees me, and his face lights up.

Hardly.

The chainsaw roared. He braced himself, legs planted to endure the saw’s shudder, muscles rippled as he steadied the blade—awaiting the tree’s plummet, writhing as if in hand-to-hand combat. I keep my distance and watched.

That face! It’s not one I’ve seen on him before, ever. His jaw tight, face stretched, eyes calculating under his furrowed brow—creased in concentration. No, more than concentration. More like contorted, devilish fury.

I decided right then and there I didn’t ever want that face aimed at me. There can be two sides to anyone. The one we display every day to those we love or the Go Home, Dog—face—and I mean now! What if someone tried to snatch our child from our arms? They would get an I’m-fighting-for-life face. Right?

Guess what, God has two faces too. The one He shows his enemies and the one He shows His dearly loved children. Psalm 34:15-16 makes this very clear.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth

Can I encourage all of us to get to know God’s kind and loving side?

I love that we can come boldly to God through Jesus. He beckons us to. He is kind and gentle with His own. Not to be confused with the fact that one day He will return and be ruthless with those who have stood against Him. I want you, my friend, to never see that side of God. Just like I don’t ever want my husband’s—I’m gonna take you out face—glaring at me.

God wants to be our loving Father. He’s taken every step to tear down the wall of separation between us—the wall we built when we chose our own way over His. In doing so, we turned our backs on the One who loved us. But Jesus…

It’s His kindness that leads us to repentance—the only way to the heart of the Father. Clothed in Christ, we no longer tremble at the Judge’s face, for His righteousness covers us.
So, we no longer stand accused, but beloved.

We sense His joy. Even now He rejoices over us with singing.
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
— Zephaniah 3:17

If you don’t yet know God as your loving Father, please ask Him to show you. Read about His love poured out for us in His word. Ephesians says God lavished His grace on us. That kind of love is worth leaning into—and this Father’s Day, He’s a Father worth knowing and celebrating.