the one when I learn

It's amazing how much being a parent teaches you about God. I feel like almost every little interaction I have with Chloe Belle is insight into the heart of my Father. Two little lessons I've learned lately:

#1 As Chloe Belle is growing and changing, my love for her grows each day. She's more verbal and extremely mobile, and more like a little person. I feel like each day I fall in love with her all over again. The other day we were driving and I stopped at a red light. I looked back at her to check on her. She's still in the pumpkin seat facing backwards. Often all I can see are her little feet kicking, or sometimes the top of her head. Stopped at the red light all I could see of my wee one was her little thumb hooked around one of her links. That's it: just a tiny little thumb. I teared up at the sight of it, overwhelmed by my love for that little thumb.
As I turned back around, I was completely caught off guard by this thought: If I am brought to tears over the love of my daughter just by seeing her finger, what is the magnitude of the love my Father feels for me?
I couldn't stop thinking about it all day, just pondering the depth of the Father's love for me. It was overwhelming.

#2 I love this new phase CB is in where she's pulling up and cruising around on everything. I don't love that she'll be walking in just a few weeks, but it is so much fun to watch her adventure and explore all the time. However, with crawling, pulling up, and exploring comes hardship. She's falling down quite a bit lately.
Her favorite place to go explore is the dog's area. She likes to bang on the crate, push around the big container of dog food, and of course, tip over their water bowl. I've been trying hard to discipline her to show her that this tiny area of the kitchen is off limits. Every time I tell her no, I think it just increases her desire to be over there. It's amazing how her little life is my big foolish life in miniature. Why do some sins remain so desirable when my Father has told me repeatedly to stay away??
Today CB was playing over in the dog area. Before I could get to her to pull her away, she pulled the dog food container down on her, falling on the floor and banging her little head against the hard floor. Man oh man did she scream.
As I comforted her, I knew that if she had only listened to my correction there wouldn't be this pain. And I knew that the same is true in my own life. How God would have saved me from heartache if I had only listened to His voice.

I love this parenting journey. I'm learning so much about myself and my God and having an absolute blast along the way.