Illustration: Father, Grace

In a sermon called "What Child Is This?" Atlanta pastor Vic Pentz says, "I have a friend who is an actress in Houston, Jeanette Clift George, who tells of flying from Tucson to Phoenix. During the flight, she noticed across the aisle a young mom with her baby daughter. Mother and daughter were wearing, crisp, white pinafores. The mother was smiling and the baby was saying, 'Dada, Dada.' She had a little pink bow where someday she was going to have hair and anytime anybody walked by, she greeted them with, 'Dada, Dada.' Jeanette concluded, 'I think I know who is going to be there waiting when this plane lands, Dada.' Meanwhile the baby was the magnet of everyone's attention on the plane. The mom had a baby bottle filled with orange juice. It turned out to be a rough flight and when the baby got fussy, the mom would pacify her with the bottle of orange juice.

"The flight became even more turbulent. Seat belts were buckled and flight attendants had to take their seats. Soon all the fruit juice that had gone down the baby, came back up until it seemed there was more up than there was in her. The rest of the passengers were not in good condition, Jeanette said. As the plane was pitching back and forth, Jeanette kept reaching into her purse and handing tissues to the mom. Finally the plane landed and instantly the baby was fine and again saying, 'Dada, Dada.' Jeanette said she looked out the window and there he was. It had to be him—a young man in white slacks, white shirt, carrying white flowers wrapped in green paper. Jeanette thought, 'This ought to be interesting. He's going to come running and see that baby and keep right on running and say, that's not my kid, that's not my kid.'

"Jeanette writes, 'As he ran to the young mother, I wouldn't say she threw the baby at him, but she did kind of leave quickly to go get cleaned up. This young man picked up that baby, and I watched him as he hugged that baby and kissed that baby and stroked that baby's hair. He said, 'Daddy's baby's come home. Daddy's baby's come home.'

"All the way to the baggage claim area, he never stopped kissing that baby. He never stopped welcoming that baby home. I thought, 'Where did I ever get the idea that my Father God is less loving than a young daddy in white slacks and white shirt with white flowers wrapped in green paper?' My friend, God welcomes you home this morning. If you've been away from church for a while, no matter how stained you may be by failure or even by unbelief, God will not hold you at arm's length. He welcomes you as His child. Come on home and know that our…everlasting Father is waiting for you."