Just What I Needed.

Truthfully, I always imagined myself raising boys. I just assumed that, with all my affection for order and organization, the Lord would throw in some boys to leave muddy little footprints across my floor and my type A heart. I was so sure He’d use them to teach me to let go and live a little. But that wasn’t His plan…

No, it sure wasn’t because God gave me a daughter instead. The daintiest little thing, beautiful in every way, so full of the joy of life. He gave me this perfect and precious girl, and then He asked me to listen to the way I spoke to her each day.

The other day I rounded the corner to pour myself a cup of coffee as Savannah played on the floor. She cried out for me once I was out of sight and I popped my head back around the corner to say, “Oh, baby! Do you really think I would ever leave you? I love you!” Before I could even finish my thought, goosebumps covered my body.

Every word that I have spoken and will ever speak over my daughter in love is what my Father speaks over me. I am fully known and deeply loved. There is nothing I could ever do to make Him love me more than He already does. I can set down my To Do list and snuggle up beside Him, secure in who I am.

That’s the heart of the Father. Sure, He wants to make us to look more and more like Jesus every day. But He’s not “out to get us” or to “teach us a lesson” in that sense. He’s not laughing when we tell Him our plans like so many like to say. Actually, He longs to show us His heart and that’s often why His plans differ from ours. He’s inviting us into the sweetest transformation where we can put off pain and put on His purpose and peace. There’s no shame, guilt, or condemnation in Jesus. Just the purest love to set you free.

(Originally Written August 2020)