it is good

My depraved little daughter and the creation of the world

I remember the days and months leading up to the birth of our daughter. At some point, my wife and I wanted to share our life with another human being. We would share our life with a human being we would create together. As the day approached we got more and more anxious for her to be here...with us. We had already made all the preparations we were going to make, and now we wanted her to be with us.

When she was born, I looked at Tonya and said, "She's perfect!"

I imagine God has an incredible plan to always be with us. That seems to be the real point of creation. God wanted to be with us. He wanted to share life with us. He, together with Spirit and Son, created us.

After all the preparations he had made, He just wanted us here. Once human life was created, he said, "This is very good!"

Tonya and I have huge hopes for Bryleigh; hopes of a bright and incredible future.

God intended for not only a bright future, but a perfect one. He for us, like Tonya and I for Bryleigh, wants the best. But life does not play out in perfection.

Bryleigh will make bad decisions I only hope she learns from instead of getting stuck in. My hope is for her to have a perfect and harmless life, but that is not the world we live in.

God intended for us to never suffer, and that did not happen. He intended for us to live in perfect harmony with one another; I don't even know my next-door neighbor's name, and I called the cops on the neighbors across the street.

Immediately when we were given choices to make we were introduced to our innate selfishness; our depravity if you will.

We are bent toward selfishness. Randy Frazee writes, "Good looks for out for others; evil looks out for self."

But though Bryleigh will make poor choices, and it will break my heart to watch, I will still walk with her. I will still be WITH her, which is what Tonya and I wanted all along.

Though Adam and Eve were banished from the perfect garden, God would meet with them outside the garden.

Still today, God meets us outside his perfect plan for us and walks with us through every experience, no matter how broken, hurtful, or torn-up those experiences might be. No matter how selfish I am, he wants to be with me.

This is the outrageous loving heart of a Father who could not wait for you to be here.