Recently I met a woman who works at my youngest niece’s preschool. First off, let me explain that Kamryn is an exceptionally special little girl. She has been through a lot in her 4 1/2 years, and I’ve found this has both brought out a wildness and incredible compassion and love. But sometimes the wildness shows up more often than the compassion, and this is how the woman explained her experience with Kamryn at the preschool. She can definitely be a handful. Her teacher was telling me of a particular time when Kamryn was refusing to come into the school from recess. She crossed her arms, sat on the ground and put on her “mean face.” I know this face all too well, it’s hard to crack. Against her best efforts, the teacher couldn’t get her to budge. Finally, she put her hand on Kamryn’s back, looked her in the eye and said “Kamryn, do you know that Jesus loves you?” As soon as she said that, Kamryn’s face lit up, she got up and smiled and replied “Yes! He does love me! He does!” It was a good day after that.
Wow. All she needed was a reminder that Jesus LOVES her. Not because He has to, but because He wants to! He “chose HER in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in LOVE. Having predestined HER to adoption as a daughter by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” {Eph 1:4-5} She is His pleasure! My prayer for her life above all else is that she knows this, everyday of her life.
I feel I could learn a lot from her in this way. On my bad days, I want to hide. I don’t want to hang with Jesus until things are squared away, until my heart and spirit and life is where it should be, and I can have something to bring Him. But it’s the very nature and design of His love to empower and bring life to those dark places.
I love the series we are in at the Stirring. “Becoming Who We Are.” I love that word “becoming.” To me it says, “I’m not there yet, but I’m on my way.” It’s about the journey. And perhaps that’s even more important than the destination. It’s so liberating, on those days that I sit with my arms crossed and my “mean face” on that there is a hand on my back and amazing eyes looking into mine saying, “I love YOU.”
That’s all I need.
2 comments:
This is so very precious! I love the way God teaches us through kids. Jesus' love is so simple and yet so huge at the same time - pretty awesome!
Kids can be amazing teachers. They are so in tune with simplicity while we complicate and forget things. I'll be walking with you on your journey! (every breath you take, every move you make... ;)
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