Always means always

My youngest daughter and I have the same, exact conversation just about every single day.

Making “flour pies”

It took a little while for her to know the right answers, but she has it down now.

The exchange goes like this…

Me: How long am I going to love you?

Her: For always!

Me: But what if you do something really bad?

Her: You’ll STILL love me!

Me: Even if it’s really, REALLY bad?

Her: Yes. You’ll STILL love me.

Me: Will I be sad?

Her: Yes.

Me: How sad?

Her: Very sad. But you’ll STILL love me.

Me: But for how long?

Her: ALWAYS!

We started having this conversation when she was two, and at first when I’d ask her how long I would love her, she’d say things like, “Ummm, I don’t know. Until Thursday?”

So why did I keep asking her until she could consistently get the right answers? Why would I want to have the same, exact conversation every single day?

It’s because I want her to know.

Right now she’s only three years old, and 99% of the time she is nothing but adorable. But I know the time is coming when everything she does won’t be quite so cute. We’ll be disappointed in some of her choices. We’ll probably get angry with her over bad attitudes and disobedience.

But I want her to know that, just like we do with our three older children, her father and I will continue to love her, no matter what, and there is nothing she can do that will ever change that.

More importantly, I want her to know that her heavenly Father won’t ever stop loving her.

Never?

Never!

No matter what?

No. Matter. What.

I want her to know this, because like the rest of us, she is going to mess up. She is going to eventually have to deal with guilt and regrets and disappointment in herself.

But I want her to know that even though she can choose to separate herself from God, she can never, ever, ever, ever, EVER separate herself from His love.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

And that’s what I want her to know.

(Do YOU know?)

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So that’s why

I was reminded of a couple of things today. One, we have clearly never explained the whole baby-naming process to our youngest daughter. Two, cause-and-effect relationships are still a little fuzzy in the mind of a three year old.

The conversation that brought about these reminders took place just after I’d explained to our little one why Goldilocks was so named.

Her eyes lit up and she said,

“So, God could have named ME Goldilocks, too!”

After pausing in thought for a moment, she added,

“But instead, He named me Remi…

…because I’m three.”

Ahhh….that explains it!

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I can’t unsog!

In how many different ways has she asked the question?

Mommy, could you please put this in the fridge so it won’t get soggy?

Mommy, will you watch my bowl of cereal…real closely…so it won’t get soggy?

Mommy, I’ll be right back. Make sure that doesn’t get soggy, OK?

Every time I hear a new version, I’m blown away again by the realization that she still thinks I can do anything.

Well, I can’t.

I can’t keep her cereal from getting soggy, and that’s just one grain of sand on the long stretch of beach called “Things That are Impossible for Amy.”

But that’s okay.

Because we serve a God who can do anything.

One day—pretty soon, I imagine—my baby girl is going to start realizing that her parents aren’t quite as capable and knowledgeable as she’s always thought we were. But hopefully, we will have taught her well enough that she’ll be okay with that.  Hopefully she’ll know that our God can handle all the things we can’t, even if she’s seen us forget that at times. Hopefully we will have ensured that the words of Jeremiah 32:17 are deeply planted in her heart:

“Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.”

Friends, if you are struggling today with things you can’t control—and aren’t we all?—I hope you’ll remember God’s answer to Jeremiah (in verse 27):

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

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Precious clutter

I came across another one today. It looked like this:

I frequently find them around the house…these little, rolled up pieces of paper that appear—at first glance—to be misplaced trash. But I have learned not to throw them away.

You see, they belong to my daughter, Addy.

And they are important to her. These little tubes of paper are her personal prayer lists.

She makes them all the time.

She does it on her own.

And while I often get on to her for leaving her “stuff” (shoes, books, etc.) around the house, it’s hard to complain when I find one of these:

I love that Addy cares about people.

I love that she takes her prayer life seriously enough to write down what’s too important to risk forgetting.

And I love the surprise of finding out that what I thought was trash, isn’t trash at all.

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I rode the roller coaster

It was an emotional day. I rode the roller coaster of deep sadness and incredible happiness…all in one day.

It breaks my heart that there is so much misunderstanding and misinformation out there. Christians do not hate gay people. We are not afraid of them. We are simply concerned for their souls. We believe deeply in God’s plan for the family as outlined in the Bible, and want to be able to uphold those teachings and to encourage others who do so, too, even at personal cost (such as damage to their businesses). We certainly don’t believe that we are perfect. We are simply trying each day to do our best to live in a way that pleases God…not by our own standards, but by His.

It breaks my heart that there are such crazy double standards in place. I must be tolerant of your views, but you don’t want me to be able to give voice to mine? What?!?  Our constitution gives us the right to free speech. More importantly, God’s Word tells us to “speak the truth in love.”  It’s part of growing up!

“As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:14, 15)

There was so much more that saddened me…but this is a blog about why I smile, and there were plenty of reasons for that, too.

I smiled each time I read another account of someone’s visit to Chick-fil-A. The same phrases popped up in every e-mail and facebook status I saw:

“cars wrapped around the building”

“hour-long wait”

“could hardly get in the parking lot”

I smiled because they were all followed by statements like, “But I didn’t mind at all!” and, “It was so worth it!”

I smiled about the fact that even in the crowded restaurants, people were patient and kind. And, the employees were still friendly and gracious, just like always. (My son said, “In the midst of all that, they didn’t lower the quality of their service. That’s impressive!”)

I smiled because I had to squelch my desire to hug everyone waiting in line at Chick-fil-A and tell them how proud I was of them for standing up for what they believe is right, and for doing their small part to encourage that in others. (Can you imagine if I’d given in to that desire?)

I smiled because, as I sat among tables full of friends in our church fellowship area at supper, surrounded by red and white bags and cups, I heard no gay bashing, no people bashing at all, no death wishes…nothing at all like the comments I saw repeatedly by some of those who opposed customer appreciation day and the moral stance behind it. I simply heard sweet fellowship and expressions of joy over the opportunity to stand up together and make our voices heard.

I smiled each time I heard someone say, at supper, “Yeah, I ate there for breakfast, too.” Or, “I went yesterday and today for lunch.”

I smiled as I read of those who don’t have Chick-fil-A restaurants in their area, who supported the company anyway by buying gift cards to send to friends and relatives in other parts of the country.

I smiled when I saw two other fast food companies–Chick-fil-A’s competitors, in other words–who showed public support for a company whose leader was willing to take a stand.

I smiled as I read news reports of stores running completely out of food supplies that had been stocked for the whole week.

I smiled because while reading this article, I noticed this interesting comment: “With regards to Cathy’s statement on same-sex marriage, Bloom said it appeared to have been a ‘bad business decision…’”

Hmmm…I’m pretty sure the buycott outweighed the boycott!

I smiled when I read my friend’s account of standing in line at a Chick-fil-A restaurant where the waiting crowd burst out singing “God Bless America.” (I got chills again just typing that!)

I smiled because I’ve been reminded that my children can still grow up in a world where there will always be people who stand up for truth, no matter how many tell us to be silent, because we still believe in the words of Acts 5:29: We must obey God, rather than men.

What made you smile this week?

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