Dear daughter: You can always depend on God’s love

    Before bedtime a few weeks ago, my 7-year-old daughter Rebekah looked me in the eyes and asked, “Mom, but ... who created God?”
    Nighttime is always the perfect opportunity for theological questions and vulnerability from our kids.
    “That’s a good question.” I said. “No one created Him. He has always been. He was here before everything.”
    “You mean, he always existed?” her eyes grew wide.
    “You got it. It’s amazing isn’t it?”
    She paused for a minute.
    “And, do you know how much he loves you?” I asked.
    “Yeah … I think …” she looked up at the ceiling.
    “He loves you so, so much — way beyond the moon,” I said.
    “Can we read ‘Princess Snowbelle’ now?” she flipped open the first page.
    I realize how “I think I know how much God loves me” is an honest answer. It’s difficult to understand. Not only is it unfathomable to think about God always being here before the foundations of the earth, but his love has too.
    I look at the canvas print on her wall showcasing the moment when she and her sister chopped their hair secretively in the kitchen one slow summer afternoon. God knew every strand cut then. He knows every lock that’s grown out. I observe her physical changes and how her face has matured since that photo. I think about how God knit and fashioned her in my womb and knew her before she was born.
    Even though time is slipping away as I watch her permanent teeth grow in, her favorite sparkly leggings shrink, and her maturity developing at a rapid speed, God’s love remains steadfast and unchanging for her even in the midst of my imperfect motherly love.
    There are so many things I want to teach my daughter that it can be overwhelming. But perhaps I’ve made it more complicated than it should be. There’s really only one thing that matters most in her life and it comes from Ephesians 3:17-19:
    “... And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
    My daughter, I want you to know this about God’s love:
    “Be rooted and established in love …” (vs. 17)
    May you know this love intimately from your creator and heavenly father. Be rooted in love, like a tree planted by streams of living water that never grows thirsty or dry but is constantly a source of life, growth and blessing. I pray your life will be grounded on God’s overflowing love because everything you do springs forth from that.

The full article is available in our e-Edition. Click here to subscribe.