Orange and Green

So. The other day I learned what Brad's favorite color is.

Yup, it's orange and green, equally (in case you were wondering).

I have no idea how I failed to know this until now. It's one of those things I'd think I would have thought to know about the person I'm married to. It's not life-changing, or perspective-changing, really. Just one of those random facts that I feel like I should know about the person who fathered my children.

Yesterday I learned something new about God. Don't you love it when that happens? It's invigorating and exciting! It's like:

Wow! Really?! He does that?!

Yesterday I heard a sermon from the book of Luke (excellent sermon--I highly suggest you check it out!). I enjoy reading Luke, I think it's my favorite gospel to read. Luke was a doctor. He wrote with great compassion, sensitivity, and used a lot of women to make some great points. In the parable I want to talk about, The Parable of the Lost Coin, the woman is God.

I love that. I love thinking about God as a woman. A mother, who opens her arms and draws me in close to her bosom, strokes my hair, kisses my head, loves me so much it aches, and smells like home cookin'. I can relate to that.

Truly, God is neither man, nor woman--he created both, and is both, but we call him, Him all the time, so I think it's easy to forget about the motherly, nurturing, gentle characteristics that He possesses. The strong, fatherly, Savior, Deliverer, Creator, stuff sort of over-shadows the gentleness (for me, at least).

The The Parable of the Lost Coin is short, (Luke 15:8-10):

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of angels of God over one sinner who repents.

So, remember, the woman is God. She rejoices. She rejoices.

When I ask for forgiveness, God rejoices!

God dances and rejoices in the presence of his angels, because I've sought forgiveness.

I'd never realized before yesterday that it isn't the angels that are rejoicing (they're already praising him all the time), it's God. God's doing the rejoicing!

Doesn't that just fill your heart with joy?! God, the creator of the whole world, throws his hands in the air, waves them around like he just don't care, when you seek forgiveness.

In short, you seek forgiveness, he boogies down! He celebrates!

I wonder if it would be effective for me to start dancing jigs and cheering every time Hadley gives Brynne back the toy she yanks away, or if Brynne would decide to share one of the two soccer balls we have with Hadley.

God knows and loves each of us deeper and wider and fuller be than I have the capacity to love my daughters, and he dances when we seek him. He cares that much.

Wow! Really?! He does that?! 

Yes. Yes he does.

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Counting my gifts today:

728. Watermelon faces.

729. Black raspberry face.

730. Hadley helping her mama stuff diapers.

731. Two naps.

732. Watching my parents interact with the girls.

733. Hadley puzzling with her grandma.

734. Brynne getting lessons on how to propel herself on the car from her grandma.

735. Hadley being taught by her grandma how to swing her leg over to get on and off the car. 

736. Pigtails.

737. Brynne walking backwards with her grandpa.

738. Girls playing in a field.

739. Brynne picking yellow flowers and handing them to her mama.