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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Swimmy Remi

Our little Remi took her very first swimming lesson this week! And as usual, I learned a few lessons of my own while watching.

Remington was more than happy to get into the pool…..

…..and felt very comfortable as long as she was on the steps.

But of course, the time came when she had to venture out into deeper waters. She was perfectly fine with that, as long as her teacher was holding on to her…..

…but once it was time to push off on her own, the fear set in. (Notice the changes in her facial expressions.)

As a mom, I had a really hard time watching her be afraid. Her teacher thought she was so cute because she chattered and giggled through the entire lesson, but I knew it was her nervous laughter we were hearing, and it put my stomach in knots.

How do I explain to a three year old that the hard parts are what really help you–when I struggle to remember that myself?

How do I teach her that the scariest things you go through are necessary to keep you safe in the long run–when I often forget that in my own life?

Back to her lesson…

The biggest challenge for Remi was having to put her face into the water. She was fine blowing bubbles, but putting her eyes under, even to grab the toys she was supposed to get, was pretty tough for her. (I’m sure this is typical for a three year old…but knowing that didn’t make it any easier to watch!)

Eventually she got it…

…and I loved seeing the joy on her face when she realized what she’d done!

While watching her struggle, I thought about how hard it is for us to trust completely. With her, it’s understandable. She’s only three! But I’m…well, older than three…and I still struggle with this at times. I truly believe that God is there for me, but when I can’t see what He’s doing it makes me nervous. So here’s the verse I’m going to try to focus on from here on out:

‘Do not fear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,

Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

(Isaiah 41:10)

Here’s one more thing Remi taught me that day:

You can see on her face how much she likes her new teacher, right?

The thing is, until a few minutes before this photo was taken, she had never even met her. But as soon as her lesson was over, she enthused, “I like Ms. Meredith! She’s so nice, and she helps me swim. And that’s why I LOVE her!”

And for the bajillionth time, I said to myself, “I could learn a thing or two from this kid.”

How much happier would we be if we all just decided that we were going to love everyone around us…without waiting for them to prove themselves…without making them earn it?

Yeah…I think we’re going to get our money’s worth with these lessons.

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Thankful for messy rewards

When I came across this scrapbook page with a several-years-old picture, I was struck by the fact that everything in my journaling–except for the number of kids!–still holds true today. Our life is still crazy-chaotic. And I still feel so very blessed. I would not trade this privilege for anything!

(Journaling is typed below the page for those of you who don’t want to squint.) And yes, they’re sitting in chairs on TOP of the picnic table. (Why did I let them do that?)

I "threw" everything together on the page to reflect our crazy, messy life.

Journaling reads:

Right now, my life revolves around taking care of you three.

It’s the job God gave me, and I wouldn’t choose any other way.

The days are filled with messes, noise, laughter, learning, playing, chaos, reading, singing, dancing, teaching, pretending, praying, and hugs.

The house is never clean and there’s not much peace and quiet…but love and laughter are even better!

I love my life! I am blessed…

Did you notice that little sticker with the word ‘JOY’ at the top of the clipboard accent? How fitting is it that I overlooked it the first few times I looked at the page?  It’s not always easy to see JOY in the day-to-dayness of a chaotic life. But it is always there somewhere, ready to be found IF we are searching for it.

It also struck me that the words on the arrow sticker–‘it doesn’t get better than this’–turned out not to be true after all. Because here we are, six years later, having been blessed with another little one, which just means we now have even more noise/mess/chaos. And I love it.

But I’ll also be the first to admit, it isn’t always easy. (Actually, is it EVER easy?) So, if you are feeling overwhelmed today by the insanity that life with little ones can bring, please remember Psalm 127:3 with me…

“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.“

Let’s thank Him for the chaos this reward brings–noise and mess and all. It won’t last nearly long enough.

Thanks for stopping by!