Serve Globally Blog

Sophia has been an amazing gift and inspiration for both of us. I remember when Sophia was just a few months old and Johnna delegated me the responsibility to babysit her. I was still learning the tasks of my new position. On a particular night, Sophia started crying and after trying everything I could think of, I realized Sophia was teething.  I closed my eyes and tenderly put my hands on her little chest and slowly, almost whispering, told her “Papai está aqui, papai está aqui!” (Daddy is here, daddy is here!).  I looked at her sweet eyes and immediately I started thinking of an analogy of how God loves and cares for me. My imperfect, selfish and at the same time inexplicable love for her cannot be even close to God’s deep, unconditional and pure love for me and each one of us. As I looked at Sophia that night, I could feel God’s hands on my chest saying “My son, Daddy is here, Daddy is here.” I could see like in a movie, in front of my eyes, my personal experiences and how life is unpredictable and brings to all of us hard chapters, difficult trials, and moments of silence. My muscles will grow, my bones become bigger and my teeth will tear my gums during this growing process as a human being, but His presence is and will be always with me. May God help us to grow in generosity, love, and compassion as we live life and become better husbands, brothers, daughters, workers, fathers and especially human beings!

This piece was written by Fabio Muniz who together with his wife Johnna Hayward Muniz are raising support and preparing to serve as short-term missionaries in Japan.  You can learn more about them by checking out their blog here.