On Sunday, Carl and I stepped into a busy, active and fun-filled place — High Five — that was filled with laughter, little feet running, bowling balls rolling, and the sweet chaos of a five-year-old\u2019s birthday party. Gifts were opened with delight, hugs were given freely, and joy filled every corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there they were \u2013 a precious father and daughter, Greg and little Mia (not their actual names \u2013 protection of their hearts). Less than a year ago, Greg and Mia walked through the deepest valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The loss of a beloved wife and mama after a long, hard battle with cancer. A journey no family ever chooses — yet one they faced together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And now — here they are. Carrying on. Smiling again. Living forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mia, full of joy and love, opening her gifts with that sparkle only a child can bring. Greg, camera in hand, capturing moment after moment — freezing time the way only a loving father would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Snapshot after snapshot — holding onto memories while still making new ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
BTW — those last two photos — daddy was determined to get his girl that ball. Probably $100 later of trying and trying — he got her that ball!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as I watched Greg, I couldn\u2019t help but think — that\u2019s what love does. It stays. It shows up. It keeps going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It reminded me of Max Lucado\u2019s words:
If God had a refrigerator or a wallet\u2026 our picture would be on it and in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending love of our Heavenly Father.
A love that chases us, holds us, carries us — especially in the moments when life feels heavy and tender and fragile. A love that whispers, \u201cYou are not alone. You are Mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Greg\u2019s love for his daughter is a beautiful glimpse of that greater love. Steady. Faithful. Present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And maybe that\u2019s our reminder today. Even on the days when we miss someone deeply — even when the party ends and the quiet settles in — we are still held and seen and deeply loved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the Lord your God is with you — He will take great delight in you — He will rejoice over you with singing.\u201d (Zephaniah 3:17)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let\u2019s lift our eyes. Let\u2019s choose gratitude. Let\u2019s remember that we have a Father Who is with us, for us, and lovingly guiding us as we grow in Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh how deeply we are loved by our Heavenly Father \u2013 always!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#recklesslove #fatherslove #youareloved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Sunday, Carl and I stepped into a busy, active and fun-filled place — High Five — that was filled with laughter, little feet running, bowling balls rolling, and the sweet chaos of a five-year-old\u2019s birthday party. Gifts were opened with delight, hugs were given freely, and joy filled every corner. And there they were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33590,33591,5283,1210,7581,4281,1600,33596,570,13907,41,132,33593,2859,1784,33595,30036,33594,957],"class_list":["post-24145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-5-years-old","tag-beloved-wife","tag-birthday-party","tag-blog","tag-cancer","tag-daughter","tag-father","tag-fathres-love","tag-gifts","tag-high-five","tag-joy","tag-love","tag-love-does","tag-memories","tag-reckless-love","tag-shows-up","tag-snapshot","tag-stays","tag-you-are-loved"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24147,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24145\/revisions\/24147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}