Lovable Children

   I have a little girl who is a year and a half.  She is absolutely and utterly precious.  She is adventurous and can often be found climbing the impossible or balanced in a precarious position.  If she can find a toehold on anything, chances are pretty good that she will attempt to climb it.  She often has bruises up and down her little legs from failed mountain climbs.  Just today I rescued her from under her chair, she had tried to get off or on and it landed on top of her.  The other day I heard her screaming in the living room and I ran in to find her standing on a stool trying to reach the top shelf.  The stool had shifted and she was hanging onto the shelf trying not to fall.
   Because she likes to go on adventures, she will often find herself covered in mud, grease, or (shiver) donkey poo.  The last one makes my nose curl just to think about.  She really does not appreciate being covered in the dirt because after all, she is a girl!  But in her excitement and haste to get from one destination to another, she tries to run a bit faster than her little legs can go, and then, plop!  She lands in the mud.

Isn't she precious!  :)

   She also has an affliction that most little people have.  She gets a runny nose when she goes outside in the chilly air.  I try to take a long a kleenex to keep her somewhat clean.  But it's usually pointless and I wind up just letting her go.  I'll take care of it later when I can actually corner her.
   In the past, I have been around parents of people about her size and I could never understand why they didn't keep their children looking nice and why on earth they didn't keep that runny nose under control!  Ugh!  Yuck!  I always wondered how they could be so welcoming when their child ran up to them and why they weren't embarrassed because their kid was a mess.  I always vowed that I was going to do better than that.  (Ahem, right here would be the sin of pride.  Just thought I'd point that out.)
   Now that I"m a parent, I completely understand the shift in thinking.  When my little girl runs up to me with a look of wonder on her face and a dandelion in her small hand, I'm in awe of her.  Here she is, this little person with messy hair, bruised legs, dirt on her face, sticky hands, smelling a bit ripe, and with a snotty nose; I'm in awe.  She is so much more than she appears!  She is beautiful!  I love that she wants to share her wonder and excitement over a common weed with me.  The love in her eyes almost brings me to my knees.  Really.
   So as I was being overly emotional about this little girl, a quiet voice spoke in my ear.  "This is how I feel about you."  I knew Who it was.  It was Him.  My Heavenly Father.
   So often I try to write Him off.  I don't know why.  Probably because I don't feel worthy.  But that doesn't change how He views me.  I'm learning this through having little people of my own.  I love my children with a protective, unconditional, and deep love.  It's hard to believe that the Bible says that my love is paltry.  It doesn't even hold a candle to the love that God has for us.  His love for us is a fierce love that is deeper, more merciful, stronger, and completely proven and tested.

I find her hard to resist.  I'm just sayin'!

   Today I messed up with my children.  I got frustrated and spoke to them in a harsh tone... again.  I really hate it when I do that.  I have felt guilty all day.  It's something that God is working on in me.  He's helping me to do better, but I still mess up.
   A few hours later I was still beating myself up for getting upset with them and God spoke to me again.  "Hey, you, I still love you!  You haven't messed up so badly that you can't be forgiven.  You can't change my love.  I still think you're lovable.  You have a choice little girl, (I love when He calls me little girl!) you can let this ruin your day or you can choose to let it go and believe that I have forgiven you and that I love you.  What's it going to be?"
   I chose to surrender to Him and have Him help me change my 'tude.  I was able to get on a more even keel.  His words in my ear gave me the encouragement I needed to pray for help.  He is faithful.
    (Sigh) Today I'm the one who had a dirty face, snotty nose, and a stinky attitude.  I tried to run from Him. I wanted to avoid Him because I thought that He would be angry with me.  But I got to thinking; if my little girl would try to hide from me, I would be hurt.  I want her to trust that I love her no matter what.  I'm learning that it's far better to run to my Abba than away from Him.  It only makes both of us miserable when I try to hide.
   He loves me in spite of me, maybe more because I'm a mess.  I know that my heart always melts when I see my dirty little people because I know how precious they are under the mess and I just can't wait to pop 'em in the tub and make them squeaky clean and beautiful again.  He knows that I need Him.  It's always nice to be needed.  Yup, He's always ready to pull me close and whisper His unconditional love into my heart... no matter how awful I smell.  He forgives me and makes me clean again.  It's beyond awesome to know that He can see past my unpleasantness and sees me... the real me.  And He loves me.  That's been a completely life changing thought to me the last few months.  Hope it encourages you!
.