My 5-year old son woke me up a few days ago in an unexpected and precious way.
Jon David is the early bird in the family and I’m the night owl. Every day he wakes me up way too early with a boisterous, rapid-fire series of requests, such as, “Mom I’m hungry! Mom I’m thirsty! Mom read me a book!” to which I usually reply with some sort of Mom-of-the-Year response like, “Leave me alone, little dude, I’m asleep.”
But a couple days ago, he woke me up very differently. It was one of the sweetest things that has ever happened to me.
Standing by my bed, he stroked my arm and softly said, “I love you, sweet angel. You are a gift from heaven.” Then he kissed my cheek and again said softly, “I love you, sweet angel. You are a gift from heaven.” When I opened my eyes to look at him, he was smiling at me.
It’s weird to wake up with so many emotions at the same time…
Shock that he wasn’t half shouting, “Mom, I want some toast!”
Awe that someone was being so extremely kind to me.
Like butter, my heart melted. I sleepily smiled back at him.
Later that day, after I dropped him off at kindergarten, I began to ponder what had happened. I realized he was saying to me the words I’ve said to him a hundred times. “I love you, sweet angel. You are a gift from heaven.” Driving and musing, I pondered that perhaps the very best I could do with my life is to love my sons.
It would be wonderful if the fruit of my love could perhaps be my sons’ lives pouring out love to others. Beautiful, pure, undefiled love to a world that needs love.
Light bulb.
That’s what life is all about.
You’ve probably been told that you should live your life not in fear of God’s wrath. Not trying to earn your way to heaven by your good deeds. Not foolishly sinning, banking on His grace for forgiveness.
Our lives should simply be lived in response to His love.
There is a verse in the Bible in Romans 5 that says “…God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” The words “poured out” have a “Niagara Falls” kind of meaning. He has lavished us with amazing love.
[verse reference=”John 3:16″]For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.[/verse]
So loved.
For the first time, I got a real life picture of how it looks. A mother’s love poured out on her gifts from heaven – and the response? A little boy waking me up saying exactly what I think God is saying to you today. “I love you, sweet angel. You are a gift from heaven.”
What is the sweetest thing your child have ever said to you?
A sweet example of how our words to our children are teaching them how to relate to others…I LOVE this! Precious. And huge…we all need to sink in how much our Father loves us. Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE this post! I really love how you explain the words “poured out” as like Niagra Falls! What a beautiful picture of how God shows His love for us!
Oh wow, this was just what I needed today. Thank you!
So many times I get caught up in the routine that we forget to stop and offer a kind word. I need to make the time for that, because that’s what will remain.
My 3 year old has repeated my phrases to me and to his little brother, “Oh, you’re so sweet, I love you”. And whenever I’m wearing a dress or skirt, he tells me I look like a princess. Even though I’m 30 years old, I still love hearing I look like a princess!