Most of the time, our youngest two get along beautifully. When they don't, something like this soundbite from last week happens:
"Sweetheart, your big brother told me you two weren't getting along. You want to tell me what happened?"
Instant tears.
"I was mad at him."
"Really? Why is that?"
"Because he wouldn't play what I wanted him to play." Long pause. "So, I said some mean things."
"Hmmmmm. Isn't your brother your best friend?" Head nodding. "And is that how you want to treat your best friend?"
Very long pause. More tears.
"No."
Ah. And there's the problematic truth. She has discovered she isn't always the friend she wants to be.
And I can feel her pain.
How many times have I wished after the fact that my words had been different? That I had been able to offer the comfort or encouragement that was in my heart in a more tangible way? That I had been more faithful, more true, or more gracious? That I had been the friend I want to have?
The follow up to our conversation included instructions for her to write out a list of things she wanted to be as a friend. She threw herself into it, even typing up her list on the typewriter her Nana gave her for Christmas.
I couldn't agree more with her decisions:
five things how i will treat my frinds
one nice
tow kind
three no tochie toche (Admittedly, we had to laugh at this one--it's a reference to making sure she never used her hands to hurt her friends, but it did come out kinda funny.)
four playful
five treted like i would want to be treted
Amen and amen.
Dear Seven Year Old Me
Friday, March 8, 2013
Twenty-nine years ago today, the seven year old version of me decided to become a follower of Jesus. Compared to other childhood memories, I remember it quite clearly.
I can picture myself in the Sunday School room of the church where my parents served on staff. I can remember the teacher talking about the time she asked Jesus to be her Savior. She went on to something else, but my mind didn't. I could only hear those words "asked Jesus," over and over.
It was Wednesday of that same week, when the words were still resonating in my little girl heart, that I went to my mother and asked her to help me ask Jesus to be my Savior. She was nervous, wanting to get it right. She asked me if I could wait until Daddy got home. But, I didn't want to wait, so we sat together and, in the space of one moment to the next, I passed the threshold into a new life.
Who could wait? When your bridegroom is waiting for you with baited breath at the door, who wants to tell Him to wait? When your new home is waiting for you in a glorious Kingdom, who wants to pass the mundane hours until Dad gets home?
And when I think about that girl, with a heart full of love for her Jesus, I feel so tender towards her. She was young and innocent and full of trust. She heard the Word, treasured it, believed it, and acted on it.
And she was changed.
No, she wasn't leaving behind a life of crime or drugs at the ripe old age of seven. But, her change was still real.
She left darkness, and she took up residence in the light.
I can see her crawling into bed that night under her pink bedspread, whispering her prayers to her new Savior. I can see her smile. I can see her confidence that came from believing with her childlike faith that God is good and He loves her.
And if I, the twenty-nine years later version of me, could hold that girl in my arms on that day, I would rock her to sleep and tell her a few things.
She doesn't need to know all the specifics. They are better left to be discovered. She doesn't need to know the names of the victories ahead, or the faces of the heartache that's coming.
She just needs to know this:
Sweet girl, it won't always be easy, this road you have chosen. There will be times when you will be asked to sacrifice and times you will need to go through the narrow gate, when the wider one seems so much more fun and convenient. There will be times when people around you won't understand the decision you made or the decisions you will have to make to stay true to your first love. There will be times when you feel like you can't see God and don't understand what He's doing.
But, little one, your faith is real. It has changed you. He has changed you. And the best news of all, you will never, ever be alone again. The one thing you've always feared---it can never happen, now. No matter what, you will never be alone.
The lover of your soul has joined His heart to yours now. You have become one flesh with the One who died for you. And He will never leave you or abandon you.
Instead, He will massage the wounds in your little heart until you no longer believe the lies that you are rejectable. He will heal you with His love and unconditional acceptance. He will transform you into what you have always desired to be.
So, sleep tight, little girl. There are mountains ahead to be climbed, and views so glorious to behold, your dreams tonight can't compare. There is a life to be lived that started today. And it's a beautiful life. A beautiful life joined to a beautiful God.
The God who saves.
The God who rescues.
The God who delivers.
The God who heals.
The God who restores.
You can trust Him.
Author's Note: If you are reading this today and are looking for what that seven year old girl found, you can meet Him---His healing is for you, too. Click here to read more. You don't even have to wait for your dad to get home.
I can picture myself in the Sunday School room of the church where my parents served on staff. I can remember the teacher talking about the time she asked Jesus to be her Savior. She went on to something else, but my mind didn't. I could only hear those words "asked Jesus," over and over.
It was Wednesday of that same week, when the words were still resonating in my little girl heart, that I went to my mother and asked her to help me ask Jesus to be my Savior. She was nervous, wanting to get it right. She asked me if I could wait until Daddy got home. But, I didn't want to wait, so we sat together and, in the space of one moment to the next, I passed the threshold into a new life.
Who could wait? When your bridegroom is waiting for you with baited breath at the door, who wants to tell Him to wait? When your new home is waiting for you in a glorious Kingdom, who wants to pass the mundane hours until Dad gets home?
And when I think about that girl, with a heart full of love for her Jesus, I feel so tender towards her. She was young and innocent and full of trust. She heard the Word, treasured it, believed it, and acted on it.
And she was changed.
No, she wasn't leaving behind a life of crime or drugs at the ripe old age of seven. But, her change was still real.
She left darkness, and she took up residence in the light.
I can see her crawling into bed that night under her pink bedspread, whispering her prayers to her new Savior. I can see her smile. I can see her confidence that came from believing with her childlike faith that God is good and He loves her.
And if I, the twenty-nine years later version of me, could hold that girl in my arms on that day, I would rock her to sleep and tell her a few things.
She doesn't need to know all the specifics. They are better left to be discovered. She doesn't need to know the names of the victories ahead, or the faces of the heartache that's coming.
She just needs to know this:
Sweet girl, it won't always be easy, this road you have chosen. There will be times when you will be asked to sacrifice and times you will need to go through the narrow gate, when the wider one seems so much more fun and convenient. There will be times when people around you won't understand the decision you made or the decisions you will have to make to stay true to your first love. There will be times when you feel like you can't see God and don't understand what He's doing.
But, little one, your faith is real. It has changed you. He has changed you. And the best news of all, you will never, ever be alone again. The one thing you've always feared---it can never happen, now. No matter what, you will never be alone.
The lover of your soul has joined His heart to yours now. You have become one flesh with the One who died for you. And He will never leave you or abandon you.
Instead, He will massage the wounds in your little heart until you no longer believe the lies that you are rejectable. He will heal you with His love and unconditional acceptance. He will transform you into what you have always desired to be.
So, sleep tight, little girl. There are mountains ahead to be climbed, and views so glorious to behold, your dreams tonight can't compare. There is a life to be lived that started today. And it's a beautiful life. A beautiful life joined to a beautiful God.
The God who saves.
The God who rescues.
The God who delivers.
The God who heals.
The God who restores.
You can trust Him.
Author's Note: If you are reading this today and are looking for what that seven year old girl found, you can meet Him---His healing is for you, too. Click here to read more. You don't even have to wait for your dad to get home.
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