Peeking into the living room, my beloved wife and I saw our third child, our little boy, sitting on the floor and poring over a book. He was hunched over his story with intense concentration. He was only about two, and he couldn’t yet read, but that was no obstacle to spending lengthy periods of time lost in the pages and pictures before him.
I had always heard from more experienced parents that by the time you get to about the third child, he pretty much takes care of himself. And, actually, it proved true! This little guy was quite self-sufficient, in this and so many other ways.
But not in one way: he’s our most cuddly, physically affectionate child. And when he wants to cuddle, I’m reminded that what he needs most of all, and what I must provide, is love and affection. And what a delightful blessing it is to provide it!
Being a father is about many things. It’s about being strong. It’s about providing. It’s about protecting and serving. But most of all, it’s about loving. It’s about laying down my life in service of loving this little boy. And when I do that, I’m reminded that, for all the ways I might appear to be self-sufficient, I also still need the one thing necessary: the love of my heavenly Father.
