Being Fathered with Suzanne Phillips

Today, we have a SPECIAL guest writer. This is my mom, Suzanne Phillips. She is full of wisdom you don't want to miss out on. She is an encourager-- it is just part of her nature. She is a passionate daughter of the King and she loves Jesus with her whole heart. Are you ready for this? I promise, you will leave this blog feeling encouraged. 

What does it mean to be Father? 

54 years into this journey called life I smile as I ponder this question feeling, in some ways, more like a child with each passing day. Time has a way of softening your edges and reminding you how little you really know about life and the ways of our Father. His ways are so much higher! To be Fathered means I have a lap to curl up in and be held when the ways of the world pretend to dethrone my Daddy. It means there is wisdom far beyond my opinions, ideas, and perspectives and there is someone just waiting and longing to share it with me. I don’t have to figure this life our on my own. To be Fathered means someones face lights up when they see me…every time they see me! My Daddy loves ME, He loves being with me, listening to me and simply watching me be who He created. My Daddy doesn’t tire of me but instead misses me deeply when I stay away too long. He longs to have me nearby. My Daddy invites me to dream and to dream big, He doesn’t push and is patient when I need a minute to find courage, hold onto the pass a little longer or cross my arms in frustration or stubbornness. He waits. He already knows how I will react or respond because He KNOWS me. Being Fathered means a safe place to ask for help, I don’t come as a beggar but as a daughter. Being Fathered means I can trust His answers because He is good and therefore has a good plan. Being Fathered means:  being secure in His love, identified but His love, adopted from His love, invited to share His love and equipped to demonstrate His love because I am His! 

What is your favorite characteristic of the Father and why? 

There are so many!! I’d have to say that my favorite is the creative nature of our Father! I have always been fascinated that He first introduces Himself to us as a Creator. Within the story of Creation, we experience Him as a leader with the heart of a Father but, even before we know Him in relationship we witness His creative nature and power. It amazes me, when I consider… He did not need anyone (or anything)!  Yet, He had a desire to be with us. He dreamed about me and He dreamed about you and all of His creation before He spoke creation into being. He is a designer!!  He designed our physical bodies to work and reproduce. He designed the seasons and, time itself. He designed marriages and family to thrive. He designed the spots on a leopard and the stripes on a zebra. He designed the Body of Christ. He designed His perfect Bride. And, even knowing her brokenness and imperfection, He designed a redemptive path to reconciliation! He designed the beginning of time, eternity and everything in-between. He is a Creator who created us to be creative! And His design for life is perfect! 

How does knowing The Father define who you are? 

Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…”

Workmanship here comes from the word poiema meaning a product or fabric. I am cut from the same cloth as my Father. I am made in His glorious image and am “becoming” me in Him more and more each day, from glory to glory. I can rest knowing I am seen and known, loved and enjoyed. Define by definition means to put boundaries around, to draw lines. My Father hems me in and draws a line protecting me! I am who He says I am. No more. But no less. I’m not what I do, how I feel or what others say about me. I am His. He is mine. I am a daughter of the Most High and a child in my Father’s lap.