I know I don't post often, but this was just really a moment I wanted to remember. I was invited to a birthday party of a sweet, little girl I used to watch in my home. I also kept her precious, little cousin. They invited me over this evening for a last minute birthday party, but I already had plans. Still, they invited me to drop by whenever I could - and my kids and I have really missed them so I told myself I would do my best to get done in time and just pop in for a minute.
I felt like it was too late, but all their cars were still there, so I knocked on my friend's door (who is the children's grandmother, and a very dear friend of mine). When that door opened, it was just one of those moments that I needed. Their family just welcomes me like I am family. Everyone jokes around and is relaxed and I always feel almost like I am just another one of them. Then those two sweeties walked up to me and wrapped me up in their tiny hugs. The little girl just grabbed me and told me she missed me and I fought back tears. She gave me a kiss on my cheek, complete with a little blue icing on her lips! Then the little boy walks up and grabs my cheeks and says, "I love you, I miss you." I have to tell you, I was so moved, I might as well have been putty - it was a good thing I was sitting down because my heart was so mushy, I'm afraid my legs might have been too!
There is nothing in the world that I deserve less than the pure, sweet, honest love of a child; and yet, despite everything in this world that goes wrong, when my own children or some of the children I have cared for tell me something from their heart, I am reminded of the beauty of God's creation.
"And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." Genesis 1:31a
It makes me think of my Father's love for us. I don't deserve the affection of a child, who does not ever lie about his or her feelings, 4 or 5 year old children are beautifully honest. I don't deserve the amazing grace that our Father has poured out on me. Yet, despite all the ugliness that there is in this world, and the trials and obstacles we encounter, He still loves me. I can't do anything good enough to deserve it either.
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." I John 4:7-10
I just wanted to share this because I sometimes get down. I often lose focus. But on this evening, I could not stop thinking of the words of James.
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." Of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits among his creatures." James 1:17-18
As my son and I left their house, it dawned on me, that entire family is God's gift to me. They have always been kind and loving toward me. They have trusted me with some of the most precious people in their lives. And, those children, are God's gift to me. Their cute smiles and their tender hearts remind me of God's tender love for us.
"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God; and so we are." I John 3:1
