{"product_id":"i-call-him-abba","title":"I Call Him Abba","description":"\u003cp\u003e      \u003cstrong\u003eFrom the Author?s Introduction:\u003c\/strong\u003e    \u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e      I was 8 or 9 when I made my first unconscious attempt to have a more personal relationship with God. I was lying on my bed  staring up at the ceiling  praying about something. I started with the usual 'Dear God . . . ' and then stopped. I don?t remember what I was praying about  but I do remember that I felt I needed to talk to Someone closer than the distant  impersonal 'God' I had learned about.    \u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e      'Dear Daddy' didn?t sound right. Then my mind jumped to an often repeated prayer  'our Father  who aren?t in heaven . . .' God was my Father. I couldn?t call him Daddy. How about Father? Instantly God was someone I had a relationship with  but He didn?t have to go to work every day. He was around anytime I needed Him. To me that was very reassuring.    \u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e      But  although I have called Him 'Father ' and later 'Abba ' since that time  He has still  paradoxically  too often seemed distant  tyrannical  a perfectionist whose standards I cannot hope to meet. No longer a Catholic  I continued to do penance in my own way  hoping to appease Him  hoping that someday He might look down on me and be proud. I never hoped for love  really just a parental pride and acceptance.    \u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e      I realize now that the way I looked at God then had a lot to do with how I viewed my earthly father-- how I felt about him and how I thought he felt about me. I?m not the product of a perfect childhood. I?ve yet to meet anyone who is. I grew up felling that nothing I could ever do would be good enough. But  still I tried  because I wanted to feel that same parental pride and acceptance from my earthly father. I didn?t dare hope for what I believed constituted love.    \u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e      In His infinite wisdom  God gave me time to think about this before He blessed me with my first child. A boy. A rambunctious  in-your-face kind of kid. Unto us a child was born  unto us a son was given  and we called his name Joshua. And one day  not the day he was born but a day farther down the road  I became a mother.    \u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e      I looked at that child and I thought  \u003cem\u003eFather  how could You let me love anyone so much?\u003c\/em\u003e And that was when I realized how intensely God loved me. Just because I was me. Not because I was anything special. Not because He was proud of me. Not because I had finally beaten myself up enough over my sins. Just because I was me. And when I realized that He looks down on me and says  'How could I love anyone so much?' with that same tightening of the chest I feel when I look at my children  I finally understood what love  real love  is all about.    \u003c\/p\u003e    \u003cp\u003e      This book is about the moments I have had since becoming a mother that have helped me understand God and His love more clearly. These are the 'Ahhh!' kind of revelations that can be hard to understand before you become a parent. If you are not a parent I hope that you will come to understand  through these experiences  another perspective on how much God loves you. If you are a parent I hope that you will come to understand  through these experiences  another perspective on how much God loves you. If you are a parent I hope that you will see  through your own children  the depth of God?s love for each one of us.    \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Pacific Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41722666090547,"sku":"9780828013451","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0103\/8902\/8915\/files\/0828013454jpg_9150acc8-e279-4a0a-b045-f367513c9f0a.jpg?v=1774921586","url":"https:\/\/clovisabc.com\/products\/i-call-him-abba","provider":"ClovisABC.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}