Goober

Goober is my 3 year old granddaugther. No, her real name is not Goober, it is Alyssa Marie Byers, just ask her and she will tell you. I love this little girl so much. I don't just love her because she is the most awesome kid in the world, though I think she is. You don't have to think that, in fact if you have little children or grandkids you should think that they are the most awesome kids in the world. I don't even love her because she belongs to Andy and Joni who I also love. No, I love Goober because she is my granddaughter. I realized that the moment I first saw her. She had done thing to cause me to love her at that point, but I did. I love Goober in the same way, not a perfectly, as God loves me. Evey time I am around her and she comes running to me and excitedly says, "Pops" I am overwhelemed with joy. I believe that is how God feels when I call out to Him in love and say, "Abba."  
We don't have to do anything for God to loves us. He just does!
I love love Goober even when she misbehaves, I know it hard to believe a Byers' kid misbehaving, but it happens. In the same way God loves me when I disobey. He nevers gives up on me or rejects me, He just loves me and disciplines me (because He loves me).
Also spending time with Goober has help me undestand what Jesus meant when He said that you had to become like a little child to enter His Kingdom. Goober is the most honest person I have ever met. When she is happy you know it, when she is sad you know it and when she is mad you really know it. She is so open and transparent. That is what God wants to do in my life and in the lives of all of His followers, the church. He wants to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls so we can be open and honest with Him and transparent to others showing the world our Awesome Savior.

Joe