So on Sunday (February 5th), I worked and waited on parties all day long.  It was good but nothing extraordinary happened…until the end. 

      All week long the other hostesses had been talking about this party that was going to be on Sunday.  One of the hostesses was going to get to dress up like a princess to do this particular party.  We all wanted to do it…I mean, what girl wouldn’t?  As I was on my way to getting ready to leave the party-dad shows up.  He has bags and bags and bags of party decorations, and in a matter of 45 minutes we transformed three of our fun but still bare party rooms into a princess wonderland.  It was amazing.  He had thought of everything, down to the last detail (he had even done up diagrams on the computer of lay out of the room).  He had a canopy set up and streamers hanging from the ceiling and a banner on the wall.  They even had a cake that was really three cakes that you piece together to form a castle.  It was spectacular.  But it was really cumbersome and definitely not what we are used to in the party rooms.  As we were setting up we were all giving each other faces like, “Oh MY GOODNESS!  When will the decorations stop coming out of the bags?”  Everyone was blown away.  Employees from all over the resturaunt came to see it.  And at one point, as he was getting ready to ask us to do one more thing the party dad says, “I know, I’m crazy.  I just love my little girl so much.”  Then when we finally got everything set up a processional of little girls in their princess dresses came walking down the hall.  They were adorable!  
     As I stood there pressed against the wall to allow as much traffic as possible I almost started crying watching these little ones.  The party-dad’s words echoed through my head, “I know, I’m crazy.  I just love my little girl so much.”  I realized in that moment that God was THAT crazy about us, about me.  As I walked out to my car, I heard that verse that says, ‘If even you as earthly fathers want to bless your children, how much more so does your Father up in heaven’  (paraphrased).
      In that moment, I saw a father’s love going all out to make a day for his daughter that she may or may not remember (she was only turning 6).  He didn’t care what people thought.  He did care if it seemed like too much, to him it probably wasn’t enough.  Some of you guys need to know that your dads think like that.  I know it’s hard to remember sometimes, because the world would have you think that they don’t care.  But they do, even if they act like they don’t…they have had to learn to act like that to function because they feel the disappointment that they know you feel every time they know they can’t give you something.  A father’s heart is programmed to love like that.  And you know what, if your father on earth has not shown you that don’t despair because there is a Father who will…who does.  Our Father goes ALL out for his children.  He doesn’t hold back unless it is going to hurt you (whether it just isn’t for you or it’s not time).  The Bible says “EVERY good thing given and EVERY perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…” (James 1:17).  So if you haven’t received the princess (or prince)  treatment from your earthly father for whatever reason, maybe it’s time to spend some time with your Heavenly Father.  He will.  Maybe not always the way you expect it to come…but He will.

Many blessing,
      Amania Ruth