My dad

My Dad has been pretty sick with cancer for several months. He has had chemo and radiation and is currently very much in the valley. I have been pondering and planning and thinking of relationships today. I had a thought that Jaden doesn't know her Pop very well. Our older children do. They know him and love him, but my girl--well, autism is a mysterious disorder and I can't begin to understand it. My first thought was that Jaden would be spared the pain of letting Pop go and that would be good. And then I immediately thought 'it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved'. (Who first wrote that, anyway?) God used it to minister to me instead. He said, "Love is worth the pain. I am love. Never stop loving." Wow. I know that to be true. And yet, it is so easy to want to hide the heart, for as long as possible, so it wont be wounded anymore. It's a common reaction and almost feels involuntary. It is amazing that God never does that--He never hides his heart in order to avoid pain. He bared it all and continues to do so. I learned much from my Daddy on earth but I still have much to learn from my Father in heaven.