It has been nearly a year since I found Hannah a shirt that she would eventually wear when she got big enough.  It would be a shirt that would describe her affection for me.  It would be a statement of her hard-core love for me.  What it would say would be a description of our relationship!  Daddy’s Little Girl!

Last night, when Sonya brought Hannah to church, in Hannah walked with that bold declaration for everyone to see.  In walked Daddy’s Girl.  When she walked in I was hoping for her to run to me with open arms and prove that the shirt was true.  Instead, she clung to Sonya’s leg and pulled her back to the nursery.  So much for proving the shirt to be true.  After service, however, she loved on me and at least acted like she was Daddy’s girl.

This is often how it is with us in our relationship with God.  Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we are adopted as the children of God.  He places on us the label as the Father’s children.  We are His!  Sometimes, though, we may have that label but we do not run to Him.  How often do we pull away from Him?  How often do we cling to other things besides Him?

God loves us with an immense love.  Even when we pull away He doesn’t love us less.  What God desires of us is exactly what every parent craves, to be loved back.  Some of the sweetest words I hear Hannah say are, “I want a kiss.”  Or to hear Josh say, “I love you dad.”  Those words mean so much.  How much more does our Father in Heaven crave for us, not only to wear the label of The Father’s Child, but to hear us cry out “Abba Father”.