One day three year old Brandon sees his father eating chocolate chip cookies and says to himself, ”Daddy loves chocolate chip cookies with milk. So I’m going to give Daddy a glass of milk.” With that he goes into the dining room and drags a dining room chair into the kitchen, leaving a trail of scratch marks – on the floor.
He climbs onto the chair, hitches himself onto the counter to pull at the cabinet door. Wham! It smashes against an adjacent cabinet door, leaving a gash where the handle hit it. The boy reaches for a glass, accidentally knocking two others off a shelf. Crash! Tinkle! Tinkle! Undeterred Brandon carries on determined to get his Dad some milk.
Meanwhile, Brandon’s Dad is watching as the events unfold, wondering if he should step in and save his kitchen! He decides, for the moment, to watch a little more as Brandon scrambles off the chair, dodging the slivers of broken glass and heads for the fridge.
Pulling violently on the refrigerator door, Brandon flings it wide open – where it stays. He places the glass on the floor – supposedly out of harm’s way – and grabs- not the little pint of milk – but the unopened 4 litre plastic bottle. He rips off the top, pours it in the vicinity of the glass but as he pours, the weight shifts and although some reaches the glass, most is spilt over the floor.
Finally done, Brandon picks up the glass yelling,” Daddy, I got something for you!” He runs excitedly into the living room, trips and spills milk all over –the floor, sofa, his Dad.
Brandon stands up and looks round. He sees broken glass, milk everywhere, cabinets open, his Dad with milk from eyebrows to toes and starts to cry. Through his tears, he looks up at his Dad with a pained expression which says silently, “What are you going to do to me?”
His Dad only smiles. He doesn’t see a child that has just destroyed his house. Instead he sees a beautiful boy whom he loves so very very much. It doesn’t matter what he’s done. Brandon’s father stretches his arms wide and hugs his little boy tight.
When we talk about God as Father, Brandon’s father is the kind of Dad God is like. . God is always watching and waiting to show us exactly how much he cares. God loves us unconditionally however many times we make a mess of things.