You know how sometimes- it’s the littlest things that give you goosebumps because they tell you how much God loves you? 💛
Two weeks ago, I sat in a taxi on the way to the airport praying, “Dear God, would you help me find one thing to get at the airport for my girls that would make them feel so special?”
We’d been apart for 3 days as I spent time with God during Lent away from home, as someone had gifted me a retreat.
But there was one problem. The airport was small and basic. And I’d done no shopping on my trip.
I walked through a candy store, once, twice, and then once more. I walked out, heart heavy, hand clutching a crumpled bag of Hershey’s kisses I could’ve gotten at the supermarket back home… when on my way to the boarding gate, I walked past a store selling random knick-knacks and saw these eco-friendly bowls with each of my children’s favorite animals on them. There was only one of each left 😭😭.
My older girl loves unicorns, while my younger previously experienced God’s miraculous provision of tens of thousands of flamingoes in Africa when she prayed to see them. Tears welled in my eyes as I felt God say, “I love you & each of them more than you could ever know.”
When I got home, my girls’ eyes widened with sparkling wonder as I said, “God really loves you. I thought I wouldn’t find anything at that lil’ airport. But He saved them just for you.”
But a thought entered my mind- and what happens when one day, God doesn’t answer our prayers and life is filled with suffering. What then?
Often, I have wondered if I’ve oversimplified the theology of God for my kids and thus done them a great disservice. Yet, a part of me tells me— my role is as much to show them the goodness of God as well, that they may grow up with a treasure trove of stories of God’s unspeakable love for them that serves not to inoculate, but to strengthen them in times of future grief.
So I write this so that I, and we, as parents, will always remember our role of mirroring His goodness to our little ones, even if imperfectly, because these times of sparkling wonder will one day be altars of faith unto the Lord in their futures.
💛