When Bridget and I had our first child, little Maeve, I began to consider for the first time what it meant to be a father.  I found my mind returning over and over to two concepts that more than anything have influenced my parenting over the last six years and I hope the next sixty.

The first was an image of a fatherly lion, like C.S. Lewis’ Aslan - good but not tame, with all that such an image might signify. I want my children to see me as the lion of the home and then to see God as the lion of their lives.  More on that some other time…

The second was the word delight.  Every time I think about being a father I think about the idea of delight. I want my children to experience my delight in them just as God delights in me.

The Bible is filled with assurances that God, our father, delights in his Son, his people, and his children.  (Proverbs 11:20, 15:8; Psalm 18:17-19, 147, 149; Matthew 3:17)).  The fact that God delights in his children, which includes me, is so marvellous that it is almost impossible to grasp.  It is one of those things I know….but I don’t really know.  I know God is my fatherly “lion” standing firm, protecting me, guiding me, disciplining me.  I feel his heavy paw in times of joy, sorrow, waywardness, and failure.  But I forget that He also delights in me.

Just this week I watched Maeve through a window at Irish dancing class.  She didn’t know I was there, but I delighted in her, watching her skip and float across the floor, hair bouncing, smile gleaming.  Last night I took her to a t-ball game and watched her run and play, cheer and try.  Again, I found myself delighting in her and I wanted her to know it.  Little Brendan watched a soccer game with me and nuzzled down into my lap to share some honey roasted peanuts…I delighted in him.  Most days he walks into my home office to ask me if I want to play “fu-ball” with him….delight.

The fact is, every day, in little and big ways, I delight in my Children and I must always remember to let them know it because for my role as their earthly lion to be of any value, they must know that their lion delights in them.

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