Children of God

This weekend I was fortunate to attend this incredible conference at my church, called Grace Life. My dear friends Kelly and Phillip Vaughan put on the conference, and it was so exciting to hear God’s truth preached and to see with my heart the Spirit moving as people came to a new and deeper understanding of God’s love.

At one point in the conference there was a very familiar picture of Jesus, the one done in pen and ink, where Jesus the Shepherd is hugging tightly a little lamb. His face is partially buried in the lamb’s wool and you can tell He’s just hugging that lamb half to death.

That picture just spoke to the longing in my heart to be loved like that, to be hugged tighter than tight.

I’ve heard recently that at least 2/3’s of our understanding of God as our Father comes from the nature of our relationship with our parents. So this picture combined with this thought made me think about my boys.

More than anything I want my two sons to know God the Father as their Abba Daddy. I want them to know God not just in their minds but in their hearts. I want them to know that God the Father wants to hug them tighter than tight.

And I was thinking about how they’ll know that. They’ll know that, at least partially, in the way Scott and I love them.

So what can I be or do as a Mom really to be Jesus with flesh on, Jesus’s love. So many things…

One of the things I really want them to know in their hearts is that they don’t have to do a thing and I’ll love them. They don’t have to be good at basketball, they don’t have to bring home A’s on their report card, they don’t have to do all their chores, and I will love them.

The truth is that all the above things make me very happy and are important. I want them to work hard to reach a goal, I want them to be responsible members of our family… but I want them to know for sure their performance is separate from God’s love, or their parents’ love.

So how do I communicate this?

I tell them every single day I love them. I kiss and hug them all the time, even if they wipe off my kisses or squirm. I just do it more. I watch Zach shoot hoops in the driveway even when he doesn’t ask. I stop whatever I’m doing to snuggle with Tyler on the couch while he watches some silly kid show on tv.

I look deep in their eyes, I listen and nod my head. I smile with a smile that says you are the most precious treasure in my life.

Each time we as moms enjoy the “being” of our children, instead of the “doing,” we’re saying to our children, God loves you because you’re His child. You were in God’s heart before He formed you in your mother’s womb, He can number every hair on your head.
1 John 1:3 How great a love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. And such we are…”