I do not doubt we are disappointed.
I fully acknowledge Luke is too.
Undoubtedly the consequences of this event will be long lasting.
Still… my boy.
Safe, wiser, and a bit jaded… how I love Him.
I am undone by how much I enjoy my semi-adult children. I love their minds. I enjoy their company. I am grateful for their questions and all that they seek to know. And it is from this place, away from them I have seen the message of Grace most clearly.
Perhaps I am at an advantage. With seven children aged 19-months to 23-years-old, I am simultaneously cleaning bums and watching other bums climb on military buses headed to boot camp. And I wouldn’t have it any other way… but skinned knees are easier to deal with than hurt hearts and totaled Nissans.
Baby smells are often more pleasant than a Whataburger that’s been baking in the Texas sun inside a stolen Sentra for the better part of 16 days…
Still, I love.
Not because of what they do but simply because of who they are.
Here, these are the tips I would give to a new parent, like me…
- These children owe me nothing.
- My children’s mistakes do not define them.
- Parenting children don’t make their accomplishments spike and increase my adoration – nor are they mine to boast of.
- Their failure, while impossibly hard to watch, not only doesn’t decrease my love for them… they aren’t my fault… I am not using them to satisfy my wrath or cause them harm.
This is the very model God uses to describe His love for me.
For years I have been most aware of these holy Words…. But I counted them as half-truths.
Yes, nothing can separate me from His love… well, except for XYZ.
Surely His goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life…. Unless of course I A – B – C.
Out both sides of my mouth with a wounded heart and broken spirit I believed the God of all loved me, but…
I love you, BUT…
The worst of all I love you’s.
The insult to the injury.
The crime against the gift… today as we delivered “possessions” to our son, this was my heart’s desire, to show him perfect love.
No ifs –
No ands –
No buts…
A grace filled love.
This is the love I desire to give and am most eager to receive.
A blind love, no lectures or I told you so-s.
Simple and undeserved favor which is perfected and grows through intimate conversations where Jesus is poured into me and I receive Him like never before. Not with a self-righteous and semi-contrite heart – not self-focused but Christ focused and fully aware that He is the only method of change.
My greatest hope is that by finally receiving this, accepting my inheritance and believing in the reality that is the righteousness that was purchased for me on Calvary – I can give as fully as I receive. Tips from the heart of my Father in Heaven include:
1. Perfect love, which casts out all fear and also… protects.
2. Undeserved favor…Grace.
No matter the state of my Nissan.
May your floors be sticky and your calling ordained. Love, Jami
Colossians 3:20-21 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
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This article originally appeared at Sacred Ground, Sticky Floors. Follow SGSF on Facebook!
