Last week, I went to a worship gathering, and someone spoke about how our Creator must feel about His creation. The closest I’ve ever come to creating anyone was carrying and giving birth to my children. I mean, I guess all I really did was let my body be the vessel that God used to create a human life, but still, I got to take part in that awesome miracle. It’s the closest understanding I’ll ever have to being a creator of life, and it breathed new life into common Christian ideas I’ve gotten used to.
People often ask me how parenting has changed my understanding of God. Here are some things that came to mind tonight as I reflected on God and how He relates to us, His creation.
Find rest in God
There is no feeling in the world like your child resting her head on your chest. They lay their small head right there and everything else in the world just melts away. You delight in being a source of comfort, love, and rest for that child, and treasure every second of it because you know that in about 20 seconds, they’ll be up and bouncing around the house again. Sweet cuddles.
Can you believe that God feels the same way toward us? He loves to be our place of comfort, for us to find our rest in him, for us to relax and flomp our weary heads on his chest. He desires to hold us tight and listen to us breathe and I imagine he likes when we try to listen for His heartbeat.
Give thanks to the Lord
Recently, my daughter started to thank me for things- on her own! Last week, she asked me to turn the music up in the car as we got on the freeway. I did, and was both surprised and delighted when she casually said, “Dangu Mama.” (Thank you, Mama). It was simple but sweet. My heart warmed. It was a small request and a small act of service, but her word of appreciation really warmed my heart. It made all the difference knowing that I didn’t have to prompt her to say it- she chose to express gratitude all on her own!
I think God feels similarly when we say a simple, “Thanks, God!” for anything He’s given us. Thank you for the sunshine! Thank you for my car! Thank you for chocolate. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my health. Thank you for food. Thank you for giving me patience when I needed it.
I used to wonder if it got kind of repetitive or tedious or boring, all these thank-yous. Lists and lists of thank yous. But I don’t think so anymore. Whether big or small, I think it warms his heart when we drop a simple, “Thanks, God!” for the things He’s given us.
I wonder if it means even more to Him when we choose to thank him for the hard things. Take, for example, the classic, “Someday you’ll thank me for this!” situation: Clean your room. No, I’m not buying that junk food. Learn to say sorry properly. Do your homework. Be home by 10pm. While your kid may not enjoy these rules right now, every parent hopes that someday, their child will grow up and look back on their upbringing with gratitude. Someday you’ll thank me for this.
And if that child does grow up and choose to return thanks for those hard lessons earlier in life, it will mean so much to the parent! I can just imagine her now, “Mama, thanks for limiting my screen time when I was two. I’m sorry if I put up a fight about it back then, but looking back I can really see how that contributed to my sleep, social skills, ability to focus and health. You’re the best!”
You’re welcome, dear.
Likewise, I think it means even more to him when we thank Him for the hard things. The things we didn’t really want, and probably wouldn’t have chosen for ourselves. The things that we didn’t like, but that can look back on and appreciate. Like getting rejected from your dream university or enduring that difficult break-up in college. I can truly look back on those times now and say, Thank you, Lord. And I know those words don’t fall on deaf ears. Not unlike how each of my daughter’s thank yous mean something to me, it means something to Him every time I return thanks.
Delight in Him
Even better than my little girl thanking me for the things I do for her or the stuff I give her is when she just plain olds likes me. “I wuv Mama!” were some of the sweetest words I had ever heard in my entire life! She doesn’t say it often, but golly my heart melts into a piddle paddle puddle when she does. Similarly, “I wyke Mama,” warmed my heart in a way nothing else can.
I love it when I can make her laugh. I make funny faces with her, tickle her, chase her, and spin her around and around, exhausting my tired body in my efforts to make her laugh.
I love it when she asks, “Want to play with me?” The invitation shows me that she likes me, and likes my company. It’s true that sometimes I kind of want to do something else, like nap on the couch, but I really like that she thinks of me and likes me enough to ask.
I love it when I show up and she’s just plain old happy to see me. Like when I pick her up from the church nursery and her face breaks out into a huge smile and she makes a beeline for me. Or when I come to get her from her nap and she smiles when she sees me. She delights in me :].
Perhaps my favorite example is actually from my childhood. I remember the thrill I used to feel when I heard my dad’s van approaching around the bend, shortly followed by the sound of the garage opening. These events sent me racing out of my room, bounding downstairs, and ready at the door, eager to give my dad a big hug when he walked in the door! I think he liked it.
I have since done my best to set life up so that Ben gets to enjoy these delightful moments when he comes home. When we hear the garage door opening, my toddler and I run and hide behind the counter. Then we wait in antcipation as we listen to his coming home sounds: the door opening, the door shutting, the key fumbling in the lock, the creak of the door as it opens. Sometimes, I build up the excitement by holding her back, and then I send her off running as she yells, “BIG HUGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!” and runs into his arms with abandon. His face always breaks into THE biggest smile. I can just see the weariness from work and the tiredness from the commute melt off his face as his eyes light up and he lifts her up into the air. She is delighted with him, and that makes everything in his world more beautiful.
I can’t imagine God feels very different. He loves for us to come running to him, and for us to be overjoyed in His presence. He is always finding ways to try to make us smile and laugh, and likes when we enjoy his company: Want to play with me? Yes, yes, I think He does.
Like a father picking up his squealing child, I think it brings joy to His heart when we delight in Him.
Breathing New Life
Find rest in God. Give thanks to the Lord. Delight in the Lord. I’ve been around these concepts for so long that they started to lose their power in my life. Instead of letting them take deeper root and transform my heart, they just started to fade into the noise of my Christian religion. But imagining them with the lens of a mother has breathed new life into those faded images. May you also know the comfort of taking rest in Him, take pleasure in giving thanks, and find your delight in Him.
4 responses to “Breathing New Life”
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Thank you fior taking me back to the basics. My relationship with God did deepen as
I had each of my children Even after my miscarriage I was
still able to keep the bigger picture. However, in the course of this busy life of being a wife and mom I forget to rest in Him. The challenges of marriage and job losses cause me to forget to delight in Him and still be thankful for the tough times even when I know they bring me strength, perspective, compassion and perseverance. Even through four lay-offs God has shown His faithful hand of provision and kept me home with my children.
Thank you for the reminder.
Oh my, I don’t know how I lost this comment but I’m glad I caught it now. Man, sometimes life just hits you hard, doesn’t it??? But you’re right, it’s in the day to day that we just kind of get sucked into things and lose sight of the bigger things. I’m sorry to hear about the layoffs, but appreciate your perspective. May you be a blessing to your children, and may you be blessed by them, too! 🙂
Thanks for JoEllen, God!!!
Truly, I am so thankful to God for giving me such a wonderful sister as you, and SOOOOO thankful to know that you’re just one in millions? of amazing brothers and sisters I’m gonna get to meet in Heaven! I can’t wait!
(But in the meantime, we’ve got a lot of work to do, working together to bring His kingdom here! Let’s do this!!)
😀 *High five!* Thanks, Florence, for being such a huge encouragement to me!