I’ll remember Friday for a long time. It’s a day that I’ll remember because it’s a day when two significant events occurred.

On Friday afternoon, I finished the rough draft of a novel that I’ve been writing for the last two years or so.

But on Friday morning, Amy, Chloe and I were sitting at the breakfast table. Chloe was next to me in her high chair and I was reading the newspaper. She reached out and tried to grab my arm. When she was unable to touch me she said, “Da-da.”

That night, Amy asked me which of those two events meant more to me. I had to think about that for a few minutes, because it really was a tough call.

On the one hand, I’ve been working on that novel for a long time. Longer than Chloe’s been alive, really.

So in a sense, I have more time invested in my book than I do in my daughter.

Besides, the book is a personal creation. Yes, Chloe is a personal creation too, but out of 46 chromosomes, only 23 are mine. Chloe is only half me, whereas the book is, well, all me.

Think about this: Chloe’s going to call me “Da-da” a countless number of times in the future. So many times, I’m sure, that I’ll eventually become tired of hearing her call me. But you only finish a novel once.

Yeah, it was a tough decision. Ultimately I just flipped a coin.

Ridiculous, isn’t it? To think that I would even have to weigh one event against the other.

To think that I would end up making such a decision by flipping a coin. Without a doubt, Chloe calling me

“Da-da” was the more meaningful of the two experiences. Hands down. No contest.

Bearing that in mind, which do you think God finds more meaningful — the universe he created, or hearing us call on him as our heavenly father?

You have to admit, the universe is pretty amazing. Pick up an astronomy magazine the next time you’re in the bookstore. Take a look at the pictures of the stars, planets, comets and nebulae that our heavenly father has created. They’re beautiful! They are unparalleled in their magnificence. God has got to be proud of his creation. How could we possibly compare to it?

I think David expressed it best in Psalm 8:3-4: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, The moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man that you take thought of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

But God does care about us. Much more so than the universe he created. He cares so much about us that he sent his son Jesus to die for us, not the moon and the stars.

Book or Da-da. Which was more meaningful to me? Hearing my sweet little girl call me “Da-da.”
Universe or you. Which is more meaningful to your heavenly father? Reveling in the beauty of the universe he created? Or hearing you call on him as your heavenly father?

Hearing you call on him as your heavenly father. Hands down. No contest.

Parrish Myers is pastor of Pine Crest Baptist Church in Gainesville.