Our Father in Heaven

I have not posted anything in the past couple of month, but for the year 2012, God willing, I will post something every week, so that I can keep the memories of my parents alive and that my children will know their grandparents and the family past of the Cheng's.
The last time I thought of my parents was in Christmas of 2011. Amy, I and Timmy were at the Bate's house, gathered together for dinner. Before we ate, Daddy Mike prayed to bless the food, saying "Father..." I didn't recall anything else he said, but I just realize that he almost always begins his prayers with "Father..." Now I don't really do that, I just say "God ..." or "Lord ...". That made me think for a long time.
Two days later, when I was talking to Amy, I told her about this. I realize that even though I have lost my father, I have a heavenly Father. I always acknowledged Him as Father, but I never saw Him as Father. That realization brought me to tears. It is emotional to me to think that way, to treat God as your parent, to think of yourself as part of God's family; it brings a warmth deep in my soul.
Realizing that God is your Father is a very powerful notion! That means I must live my life as He lives, just the same way I saw my earthly father and walked in his footsteps. That means He provides for me in the same way my earthly father provided for me. That means He gives me a sense of stability and security in the same way my earthly father had given me. And of course He can do that so much more than my earthly father! I am thankful for my dad, Denghui. He was honest, genuine, and hard-working. He loved me and my mother; he sacrificed a lot for us. I admire his courage.

Something else also caught my eyes in terms of the parent-child relationship. In Genesis 2 it said that God brought animals to Adam to see what he would name them, and whatever name Adam gave, that was its name. I find the way God the Father looking at Adam is somewhat parallel to the way I look at Timothy, my son. I delight in looking at Timothy, as he tries to explore his environment. He grabs things, feels with his hands, slowly bringing them to his mouth, and will try to put them in his mouth even though they are too big to fit in. I am always curious to see what new things he will learn (at nearly 5 months, he is learning new things every day). I can't help but think that as God was looking at Adam, giving names to animals, that He was delighted to see that.