Parent Like God

I just read an article on christiantoday.com about how if we really want to live like God, we would be having more....fun.  It referred to all kinds of things that only a God with a sense of fun would make...bags of milk under cows being my favorite example.  I never considered that before.  Here is God, hanging out on Day 5, making mammals- and he thinks, "I know!  I am going to hide a nutrient rich and life sustaining beverage in this sack on the bottom of this cow!!  Heehee...let's see if Adam can find it there!!" My vision of God never included Him playing funny jokes on Adam....until now!

My vision of God has changed over the years.  As a kid, religion and God meant having to wear ugly dress pants on Sundays and seeing how much I could harass my sister before Dad caught on and pinched me.  As a teenager it meant forced attendance in a wood pew every week unless you were actively puking.  And even then, you might still find yourself clutching the church toilet instead of the one at home.  At times in my life, I was a disillusioned Catholic.  Unhappy with what I saw, disconnected from my faith, not buying into the whole trust-in-God idea.  But the biggest shift in my faith and what really opened my eyes and led me down a path of acceptance of myself and my faith was a conversation I had with someone close to me that believed in God's sense of fun.  She introduced me to the God that actively wants me to be happy, wants me to see the wonder in His world, wants me to try things and then learn from my mistakes.  She gave me this new version of God... God, not as a Father...but as a Dad.  Less Father Abraham, more Bill Cosby.  More involved and more personal, more concerned with my experience than the result, more patient with my mistakes and faults.  For the first time I saw God sitting there cheering me on, laughing with me, celebrating my life.  God wants me to be happy.  Life changing shift in thought.

And I want to give that vision of God - and of fun- to my kids.  I want to parent like God.  Give my kids more patience, more wonder, more messes and experiences.  I want to see them like God would when they delight in the discovery that dog food makes a fun noise when thrown at the metal bowls.  I want to tamp down my fear and bite my tongue when they belly laugh at the thrill of standing tall on whatever structure they have climbed now.  I want to let them lead and get lost on bike rides, play in the rain and feel mud squish in their toes,  have ice cream before dinner.  And every time I have a mini heart attack from these adventures or worry that they will never eat a vegetable again...I will just offer up a prayer to watch over them...to the God of Fun.