“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons  neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
– Romans 8:38-39

I loved my daughter from the very moment I found out I was going to be a father. I didn’t even know that was possible. To love something or someone so much before you ever even meet them. But it’s possible, and it happened. I remember how proud I was of that first sonogram picture we got to take home. You could only see a little blob, like a little bean, on the photo, but I didn’t care, I loved it and immediately put it in a frame and proudly displayed it on my desk at work.

And each time we went to the doctor, we got to know her more and more as that little bean began to form a head and hands and feet. That little flicker of her heart begin to beat. We saw when she began to move around in the womb, feel when she would kick or get the hiccups. Each day we grew to love her more and more… but nothing could prepare me for the moment when she actually arrived.

The very instant she came into this world, and I heard her first cry, tears ran down my face, my heart melted and I was overcome with emotion. This was my daughter, I was a father, and nothing would ever be the same again.

Fast forward to today. Our little blessing is now 6 months old. She smiles, she laughs, she has a little personality, and she’s starting to try to form words. And it’s funny how much our day revolves around this little child. It’s amazing how much of my heart she holds in her little tiny hands. When she cries, we run to her, to want to fix whatever is making her sad. When she bumps her head or gets a shot, we hold her tight and whisper to her everything is going to be alright, and we don’t let go until she’s comforted. When she smiles, we can’t help but smile. When she laughs, we laugh. I can’t… even put into words the joy that this little girl brings to me and my wife.

And all of that being said, leads me to this. A better understanding, a better glimpse, even if a small one, of the love our Heavenly Father holds for us. Being a father has helped put things into perspective. It’s made me realize that there is nothing in this world I would not do for my daughter.

But as deep as my love is for my own child, the love God has for me, for you, for everyone is so much deeper, so vastly superior than anything we could ever fathom.

There is no valley too deep that His love would not chase us and find us. There is no fault or failure we could muster up that He would not still love us. There is no pit we could fall into, that He would not dive into to grab us, and pull us out.

God loves us with an unbreakable, immeasurable, undying, unconditional love. When we hurt, He hurts. When we rejoice, He rejoices. When we are broken, He is our strength. When we are afraid, He is our reassurance that He is fighting for us.

Being a father has helped me understand this love, just a little more. So I’m here to tell you, whoever you are that is reading this, that you are a child of God. Whether you are near to Him or as far away as you think possible. Whether you talk to Him daily, or you are covered in the stench of sin, you are His child and He loves you. So no matter where you are in your life, I challenge you… to draw closer to your Heavenly Father and let Him pour out His love upon you. Refuse the lies that tell you that you are unloved, you’re worthless, or you’re not good enough. They are lies. You are loved. You have value. And you belong to Him.