SIMONĂ: The Fatherâs Heart for comfort & compassion.Â
A few days ago, the Spirit whispered in my ear and said; "wake up early, go to this mountain with Victoria and seek the Fatherâs heart with all of yours."Â
June 22nd (Father's Day weekend) early in the morning we slipped on our shoes and absorbed the brisk early morning air and headed towards the mountain. Victoria could not keep her hands to herself, she kept on picking dandelions along the way. In moments like this Victoriaâs child-like heart always reminds me how God sees us as His beloved children.
 When we arrived at the park, as we sat on top of the hill, there was a group of adults immersed in aerobics, there was a basketball tournament happening by the courts in the back of the park, and the superintendent was preparing the baseball diamond. As we sat on the mountain and observed our surroundings, we reflected on all of life's challenges ahead of us and quickly recognized our need for divine intervention on just about all the challenges ahead whether deeply practical or deeply personal. We prayed, pleaded and petitoned with our Father to direct our steps and attitudes towards this map before us. Time to trust. We submitted to the reign and rule of Jesus in our lives and almost immediately His Spirit directed our hearts outwardly as we prayed for our surroundings; for the Church, the persecuted, the homeless and the fatherless.
As we prayed we noticed a lady off to the left side of the mountain sitting alone picking at the dandelions. We felt The Spirit speaking words of comfort over her. In the blink of an eye, Victoria being the bravest and most courageous  (brownie points!!!) immediately went over to talk to this lady.
 Victoria quickly summoned me over to translate this word from english into french;
"These dandelions that you are picking are everywhere---as far as the eye can see! At the surface you can't really see them, but when you look closer there is so much detail to these dandelions, and there's so much more to these dandelions that meets the eye at the surface. Today, your Father sees you like this flower, and comforts you with this word; know that I see you and love you deeply, as in the beautiful detail of this dandelion--know that you are not alone, I am with you."
It reminded me of this passage;Â
How difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, O God! How vast is their sum total! Â If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Even if I finished counting them, I would still have to contend with you. Â -Psalms 139:17-18
We quickly found out that her name was SimonÊ; she had very recently lost her Father and was sitting, grieving and remembering him. She expressed feeling alone and sadness. She wept as we prayed a covering over her as she received the knowledge of God's heart for her in this profound manifestation of God's comfort and compassion over her. He was weeping with her! What a beautiful moment!
As always, these words came to mind;Â
Jesus began to weep. John 11:35
And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.
-1 John 4:16Â
In a far-off land the Lord will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, âI have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you. -Jeremiah 31:3Â
In reality, the backstory to this encounter with SimonĂŠ we cannot even begin to grasp---unpacking it could potentially be a short novel. The providence of design is a beautiful gift that as humans we can celebrate by the grace of the One who created us to be directed in our steps to reconciled, and connecting the world back to Godâs Father heart. Truely this was a Fathers Day memory that was initiated by compassion, sustained by faith and pointed to hope directed by the Holy Spirit. (recently coined by http://citybeautiful.ch)
To finish off pointing to hope;
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: âLook! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more â or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.â -Revelation 21:3