Miracles do happen every day, but there are just some miracles that will forever hold a special place in our hearts. This is definitely the case with the miracle that took place June 11th, 2016 at 4:11pm, when my son, Addison V, was born.

Now I know people say that you just don’t understand a father’s love until you’ve experienced it, and as a young adult I didn’t really believe them. I mean, I was a full grown teenager! I knew what it was like to care for someone; how could being a father be too much different… but then they handed him to me and I realized… I had never so fully understood the meaning of love! It was amazing! Watching him for the first time lay on his mom and look up into her eyes as she spoke, hanging on every word that she said. Watching him take his first breath, cry his first cry, wiggle his first wiggle, and to think that he was mine was just astounding.

Well, the day’s events came and went and soon we were left alone. And as I lay there on that uncomfortable “bed-couch,” my mind drifted to God, and how the Bible calls him Our Father! As teens we can be so confused over this, I mean, fathers are the guys who spank us right? They are the ones who take our phones away! The ones who are always making sure we are doing what’s right! And so often it’s hard to really understand their profound love for us, but as a new father I now have a small taste of that love, and I can assure you… parents love their children! And just as parents love their children, God genuinely cares for each and every one of us. No matter our age, to God we are his young ones that He cares for and watches over.

I remember holding Addison as the nurse had to prick his foot to take some blood. MY HEART SHATTERED when he began to cry, and it wasn’t an angry cry either, it was that sad, pitiful, “help me, dad” cry. And to think that God’s heart is so much bigger than mine, and that his love for me and you is so much larger than what our minds can comprehend is amazing! And just like when I held my son as he went through necessary pain, God the Father holds us close to himself when we go through the pains of life that are oft times necessary to grow and mature us. I would have been a fool to stop the nurse, because some times, the things we really need are the things that hurt. May we as Christians realize that God doesn’t allow us to hurt for no reason. As James 1:2 says, we should count it all Joy.

Now as I sat there, holding Addison, watching his blood drip down to the piece of paper the nurse held as he cried out to me, my mind went back to the place where God watched his own son’s blood be shed. But here’s the thing, it wasn’t just a few drops, and it wasn’t for his own good. But God loved you and me so much that He willing gave up His son, and Jesus willingly gave up himself for me and for you.

I will never fully understand what it must have been like for God as Jesus cried out to Him on the cross, asking why He had forsaken him. But in the small, finite way that my heart can grasp, I know that I have tasted in part what our great God tasted in full, and my heart swells with a deeper admiration for our great God who willingly gave up His son for you and me. My mind can’t even fathom it.

When was the last time we thanked God, our father, for what he did? When was the last time we looked at God with love and admiration because of his great love toward us? He is our father! And as a new father I can promise you… HE CARES FOR US!