This morning our daughter asked me to go into the living room to play dinosaurs with her. I was busy minded and instead of going to play I got up and started making a much needed pot of coffee. I should have went. Her dad went instead. I usually think he should go because he has a special knack for being able to play that makes him so much fun.

From the kitchen I could hear him approach our daughter. I could hear him say her name in that slow, you are doing something you should not be doing, way. The sound of her little feet slapped against the laminate flooring as she ran off towards the living room window. She tried to hide. She yelled “NO” loudly as he approached her. Her entire little person reacted to the situation. When her Dad walked into the living room He had found her with the coffee table display case wide open and her little hands straining to touch a very breakable hour glass.

I came into the room to watch, and listen closer. My husbands broad shoulders caught my eye as as He knelt down before her. In his special way he began explaining to her the reason we do not want her to touch the hour glass.

“If it were to break then you could get hurt” he said. “Next time you can ask Mommy or Daddy to help you see it.”

The true value is not in the item, but in her. We tell her not to do something because we want to keep her safe. We love her, so we keep things away that can harm her.

As I watched and listened to them my heart and mind filled with a new glimpse of understanding for our Father in heaven. His love for us is all-encompassing and the reason he sets up boundaries is not for our destruction, but for our preservation. He makes things beautiful and powerful like a season arriving in its time.

My husband is a kind man and his intentions towards our daughter are motivated out of a deep love for her. Our heavenly father is no different, and in fact His capacity to love is unfathomably greater than our own. God is a good Father so you can trust Him. Listen when He guides you.

The sight of my husband kneeling before our daughter made my heart feel so much compassion for God. The role of judge, jury, father, guide and creator is a weight that only God can carry. I am so thankful for our Father’s thoughtful and creative grace. I am so grateful that He doesn’t give us rules to set us up for failure. He gives us rules to be our guide and then knowing we would fail them He gives us Jesus as our safety net. He shows us our need for Himself. How thoughtful.

Take some time today to listen. Listen to the world around you. Listen to yourself breathe. Listen to the birds, the waves, the leaves and the sound of your very own name. Hear the edges of music, and feel the wind touching your skin. Smell the air and know that you are able to experience your sense of smell because of finely placed cells that help you to perceive. God is an infinitely good God. Ponder all of His boundaries not just the don’ts and the shall nots. Consider that He is good, and that boundaries are for your good.