The Pneuma Project

when it comes to the happiness of little girls!

A few months ago we took a  a whirlwind road trip to take our girls to Disneyland to surprise our friends daughter for her birthday. It was pretty crazy, but seeing their faces light up when they discovered where we were going, and the joy on their faces as we waited in our first line made it all worth it.
We left Sunday evening at around 10:30 p.m. and due to 8 miles of avalanche controls we were diverted to Yerington and Tonapah. An 8 hour trip quickly (actually it was quite slowly) turned into 12 and a half hours. But, by 11:30 am on Monday we were in the park and played till 7. Then an excellent nights sleep at a $45 pricleined hotel and we were back at the park at 10:30. Again we played all day till 8 (the park closed) had a great dinner with our friends and hit the road. We made it back to Carson by 5:45 a.m on Wednesday.

Are we crazy? Completely.

But I would totally do it again. The joy, the surprise, seeing my girls so happy, and being with friends all made it worth wild. I don’t want to overly spiritualize our craziness, but it does help me understand why God consistently pours out blessings on us. I love my girls not because they are perfect, or because they always obey me, or even because they deserve it, but simply because they are mine. It brings me joy to see them happy, to see them make right decisions, and, to see them grow into beautiful women.

Is it too much of a stretch to imagine God feeling the same way? To believe that He takes pleasure in His creation experiencing all that He created them for? For Him to find joy in His relationship with us? I don’t think it is. It might not be completely theologically sound, but I don’t believe that the love of God can ever be put into nice little categories that then behave exactly the way we expect it to.
God’s love is bigger then anything we can understand. It’s extravagant, and unreasonable, and selfless. Because of this it cannot be described by words but must be revealed through experience. It had to lived out in Jesus. And it still has to be lived out through His followers even if it means a crazy trip to Disneyland.

Now if only I could just love others that way….