Trinitarian Parenthood

This past Sunday, Gideon was coughing and sneezing and constantly stopping his play to look up at us with two streams of snot dripping out of his nose so long they looked like tusks to say, "Need Kleenex please!" It was a great Sabbath day, where his illness made us stay and simply enjoy the company of one another.

Courtney rested on the couch, and I crawled around to play with Gideon, every now and then sneaking over to the couch to steal a kiss from my bride. At one point in the day, Gideon asked, "You love Mommy?" I pulled Courtney close and said, "Of course I do, she's the most beautiful Mommy in the world, isn't she?" And I gave her another kiss.

"Do you know who else we love," I asked releasing Courtney and moving closer and closer to Gideon. "Gideon?" he responded, and I responded by giving him a tickling kiss underneath his chin. "That's right!"

In this joy of family togetherness, it is hard not to thank God for what I've been given. And so I gave thanks to God and let Him know just how much I love Him. And then it occurred to me...

I once heard the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) described this way (paraphrased):

The Trinity should blow your mind. If you follow through the Scriptures, you'll find examples of the Father giving to the Son, the Holy Spirit giving to the Son, the Son giving to the Spirit, the Spirit interacting and giving to the Father, the Son giving praise and glory back to the Father. It is an endless community of giving and love.

Three "pieces." An endless community of giving and love. And out of that endless community of giving and love, God gives to his children... us. There is a three-fold community that practices love, generosity, and all goodness between themselves and then it flows out of them into love, generosity and all goodness onto humankind.

Shouldn't this be the model of Godly parenting? Three "pieces" (husband, wife, and God) sharing generosity, praise, service, affirmation, goodness, selflessness and more... basically a three-legged community of love. Then, this pours out into the husband, wife and God all sharing these with their children.

That's why it's a good weekend when I can paint the bathroom door to show my wife I care about what she cares about. When I can praise my heavenly Father on a Sunday morning. When I can give my wife sweet kisses and meaningful looks throughout the day. When I can teach my son the Word of God. When I can share and give to the three-fold-chord that is my marriage, Courtney, God, and me.

And then, filled of love and goodness I can read Tough Trucks to my son. I can tell him stories about the pictures etched on his building blocks. And I can tell him about the beauty of his mother and of his Father.

That is the sort of parenting that blows my mind.