i've never felt all that brag-worthy. i lead a pretty unremarkable life. i'm not especially gifted at any skill or have any remarkable talent, and i'd never stand out in a crowd for my beauty....but after watching some precious friends of mine go through the journey of adoption and bring their beautiful baby girl home, i'm convinced i'd be filling Jesus's instagram feed.
see, babies aren't all that talented either, like me, they aren't that handy in the kitchen, and they really don't contribute to keeping a spotlessly tidy house. they're cute, adorable, squishy, lovable, and even the most dull person in the world can make them laugh uncontrollably by making a silly face, so they make you feel good about your cheer-up ability too.
yet, my sweet friend who happens to be an awesome new mommy has already filled up her phone's memory with pictures (within 2 weeks, no joking). she also updates her social media site with some of these pictures captioned "look how sweet she is when she smiles while she sleeps" and "good morning!" and "good hair day" (because the swirl of hair on her head was just preciously perfect). i love this. i love the joy she has. her daughter is home! her daughter has come home! and everything about her is just perfect and brag-worthy. seemingly ordinary events, looks, times of day, and expressions are picture and brag worthy because this is the child she has prayed for. the child she has believed for. the child she has trusted the Lord for. this beautiful child is representative of God's love for us, His goodness, His perfect timing, and the joy experienced when we trust in him when all else seems to tell us not too. another part of this story, there was a previous adoption in the works. another child(ren) my friends had taken as their own in their hearts before they were born. they prayed for, believed for, did everything they were supposed to in order to bring home. then something happened, and my friends were not able to bring this child(ren) home. they were devastated. in their hearts, their home was going to be filled with the pitter pat of little feet, they were going to be parents. they were going to respond to cries in the middle of the night with cuddles, comfort, and a bottle (or diaper change....). they were not angry with God. they took a time of silence, shared what they needed to, kept private what they needed too, and seemed to respond to every thought with "if it is His will". then, months later, something incredible happened, a woman sought them out to adopt the child she was carrying. they could have said, "no, we've been hurt before, our hearts are closed", but instead, they responded with a "yes!" it wasn't an easy journey, it wasn't all perfect and without moments of "God, we trust Your will", but it was a faithful journey. and now my facebook feed is filled with baby pictures of a beautiful baby smiling, cooing, the top of her head, the bottom of her feet, her profile snuggled next to her lovely mommy...i'm pretty sure there was a post about a diaper change too.
see, this is the child they believed for, the child they prayed for, and she's here now. she's perfect. every moment is incredible to them. moments we may miss or not notice, they capture with a picture and share. that's how i see God over us. He's had many, many, many heartbreaks. He's had many say, "i do not want you as my Father" He's had many walk away from Him, and His heart breaks with every instance of such. but, His heart also rejoices when we come home. He didn't close off His heart to us because some other hearts did not respond, or walked away. when we come home to Him, every moment is wonderful to Him. if He had a camera, He'd take a picture and caption it, "look at my child! they bought a contributor paper from my soon-to-be-son!" "look at my child graciously let that speeding hooligan in front of them in rush-hour traffic after he waited to the last minute to try to get over...(wait, that's my issue...)" and "look at my child! look at her tears as she sings to Me!" and even, "look at my child! love oozes out of him even when he's sad and doesn't realize he's exuding My Life to those around him!" all of our moments, He adores. all of them. when we pout and have lapses in judgement, and then respond to the conviction and turn our gaze to Him, He captures that. He delights in that. He shouts to His angels, "look! look! my child! my child! they're not angry with me any longer! their faith is being restored! it's being restored!!!" i'd imagine He's definitely that parent that fills their social media page/feed with pictures and stories of potty and bath time, only He shares His joy over these events with angels...and it's probably not about our potty or bath time (but you never know, His thoughts and ways are higher than our own ;) ). exhort yourself, when you don't feel brag worthy, or remarkable, when you feel less than remarkable, know that your seemingly mundane task, daily motions of smiling at your barista, buying a $1 contributor paper, letting scalawags and rascals in front of you in rush hour, and even greeting your spouse with a smile at the end of the day, those are the moments He captures, those are the moments that bring Him major bragging joy. if we can delight in a precious smile on a baby's face as they sleep, if we can delight in the site of baby feet, and love the smell of freshly washed baby hair, then He can delight in our smile to a public service worker and He can delight in our hands as we lift them to Him in praise as we sing.
let us receive that! let us know that He delights in us, because we have come home, and he has fought tooth and nail for us, He has battled for us, He did not give up. He said we were His, and we became, and He wants to relish and delight in every moment of ours, just because He loves us, like a new parent, like an adoptive parent who believed and waited, and waited and believed. He waited for us, and now He wants to cherish every moment of ours, because those moments are His.
see, babies aren't all that talented either, like me, they aren't that handy in the kitchen, and they really don't contribute to keeping a spotlessly tidy house. they're cute, adorable, squishy, lovable, and even the most dull person in the world can make them laugh uncontrollably by making a silly face, so they make you feel good about your cheer-up ability too.
yet, my sweet friend who happens to be an awesome new mommy has already filled up her phone's memory with pictures (within 2 weeks, no joking). she also updates her social media site with some of these pictures captioned "look how sweet she is when she smiles while she sleeps" and "good morning!" and "good hair day" (because the swirl of hair on her head was just preciously perfect). i love this. i love the joy she has. her daughter is home! her daughter has come home! and everything about her is just perfect and brag-worthy. seemingly ordinary events, looks, times of day, and expressions are picture and brag worthy because this is the child she has prayed for. the child she has believed for. the child she has trusted the Lord for. this beautiful child is representative of God's love for us, His goodness, His perfect timing, and the joy experienced when we trust in him when all else seems to tell us not too. another part of this story, there was a previous adoption in the works. another child(ren) my friends had taken as their own in their hearts before they were born. they prayed for, believed for, did everything they were supposed to in order to bring home. then something happened, and my friends were not able to bring this child(ren) home. they were devastated. in their hearts, their home was going to be filled with the pitter pat of little feet, they were going to be parents. they were going to respond to cries in the middle of the night with cuddles, comfort, and a bottle (or diaper change....). they were not angry with God. they took a time of silence, shared what they needed to, kept private what they needed too, and seemed to respond to every thought with "if it is His will". then, months later, something incredible happened, a woman sought them out to adopt the child she was carrying. they could have said, "no, we've been hurt before, our hearts are closed", but instead, they responded with a "yes!" it wasn't an easy journey, it wasn't all perfect and without moments of "God, we trust Your will", but it was a faithful journey. and now my facebook feed is filled with baby pictures of a beautiful baby smiling, cooing, the top of her head, the bottom of her feet, her profile snuggled next to her lovely mommy...i'm pretty sure there was a post about a diaper change too.
see, this is the child they believed for, the child they prayed for, and she's here now. she's perfect. every moment is incredible to them. moments we may miss or not notice, they capture with a picture and share. that's how i see God over us. He's had many, many, many heartbreaks. He's had many say, "i do not want you as my Father" He's had many walk away from Him, and His heart breaks with every instance of such. but, His heart also rejoices when we come home. He didn't close off His heart to us because some other hearts did not respond, or walked away. when we come home to Him, every moment is wonderful to Him. if He had a camera, He'd take a picture and caption it, "look at my child! they bought a contributor paper from my soon-to-be-son!" "look at my child graciously let that speeding hooligan in front of them in rush-hour traffic after he waited to the last minute to try to get over...(wait, that's my issue...)" and "look at my child! look at her tears as she sings to Me!" and even, "look at my child! love oozes out of him even when he's sad and doesn't realize he's exuding My Life to those around him!" all of our moments, He adores. all of them. when we pout and have lapses in judgement, and then respond to the conviction and turn our gaze to Him, He captures that. He delights in that. He shouts to His angels, "look! look! my child! my child! they're not angry with me any longer! their faith is being restored! it's being restored!!!" i'd imagine He's definitely that parent that fills their social media page/feed with pictures and stories of potty and bath time, only He shares His joy over these events with angels...and it's probably not about our potty or bath time (but you never know, His thoughts and ways are higher than our own ;) ). exhort yourself, when you don't feel brag worthy, or remarkable, when you feel less than remarkable, know that your seemingly mundane task, daily motions of smiling at your barista, buying a $1 contributor paper, letting scalawags and rascals in front of you in rush hour, and even greeting your spouse with a smile at the end of the day, those are the moments He captures, those are the moments that bring Him major bragging joy. if we can delight in a precious smile on a baby's face as they sleep, if we can delight in the site of baby feet, and love the smell of freshly washed baby hair, then He can delight in our smile to a public service worker and He can delight in our hands as we lift them to Him in praise as we sing.
let us receive that! let us know that He delights in us, because we have come home, and he has fought tooth and nail for us, He has battled for us, He did not give up. He said we were His, and we became, and He wants to relish and delight in every moment of ours, just because He loves us, like a new parent, like an adoptive parent who believed and waited, and waited and believed. He waited for us, and now He wants to cherish every moment of ours, because those moments are His.
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