My little grand daughter Violet teaches me so very many things. She is only three, but her heart is so pure that I cannot help but adore her. She teaches me about God everyday. She makes me see clearly who God is and how much He loves us.
She will search through a sea of people frantically looking for me, never swayed in her determination to find me. She knows I am there. When she spots me from afar, her eyes light up and she runs to me with a huge smile on her face. She throws her arms around me and exclaims, “Hold me Grandma!”. She makes me feel as if I am the most important person in her life.
And this is how I want to be with God. When my life is crowded with people and distractions I want the desire to frantically look for God. I want to have the faith to KNOW that He is there. I want to feel the joy of finding him and the exhilaration of running to his arms and asking Him to hold me. I want Him to be the most important thing in my life.
Violet is a strong willed spitfire. She is full of energy…. and a little bit of vinegar. ( Not so different than me.) She likes to do what she wants to do. When she graduated to a booster seat in the car, she could unlatch the seat belt by herself, which she did… often. On one occasion while driving into the neighborhood she popped her seat belt off, stood up out of her car-seat and started jumping up and down in the car. She got a stern talking to. I don’t remember what I said, but every time we are in the car she says, “remember grandma, that one time I took my seat belt off before we stopped and i got in trouble with you?” “I am NOT going to do that again!” And there have been many times she has sat in “time out” on my watch. There were just as many times she cried about it, and I thought sure she would be mad at me. But bless her heart, she doesn’t see me as a mean grandma at all. She knows she messed up and knows it is my job to correct her out of love.
And this is how I want to feel about my relationship with God. I want to know I am loved despite my mess ups. When God calls me out on my sin and gives me consequences for them, I want to see that it is out of love. I want to learn from my mistakes, so that I can please God. And mostly I want to know that no matter how many times I slip up, that God will still love me.
Violet is all about the blingy, sparkly tiara wearing world. I captured on video the very essence of her. She was decked out in a princess dress, wearing more pearls than you can find in the ocean. She wore a princess rhinestone tiara on her head. She was singing “Let it Go” at the top of her lungs twirling and dancing watching her beautiful reflection in the oven door. I love to see the delight on her face as she gazes at her reflection in the mirror. She loves who she sees. She loves who she is. She twirls this way and that way with an enormous grin on her face. She knows that all of us, grandma especially, delight in her.
And this is how I want to feel about myself. I want to sing out loud and not even notice if anyone is watching and I want to not care what they think.. I want to look into the mirror and smile. I want to see myself the way God sees me. I want to not listen to the world that sets my beauty standard, and not let my worst critic, myself, determine my value. I want to know that God delights in me, that he created me, beautifully and wonderfully by His very hand. I want to feel the overwhelming acceptance that God delights in me, the one created in his image.
My grand daughter knows I have her back. I love knowing that she feels she can always count on me for all the things she desires. There is no place she loves more than to be at Grandma’s house. When we work on art projects she will announce, “I REALLY wish I had some glitter.” and viola….. Grandma has glitter. When her poor little tummy is growling…. Viola…. Grandma has her favorite cookies. When she really wants to make slime or play-dough……. Viola…. Grandma has all the ingredients to do that. Wherever we are and wherever we go, she KNOWS that Grandma has gum and candy in her purse. She believes that Grandma will always come through for her.
And this is how I want to feel about God. God promises to fulfill my needs and to give me the desires of my heart. God has always had my back. He has always provided for me, even when I was sure there was no way things could work out. He not only has given me my basic needs, but at times has gone above and beyond and fulfilled the very desire of my heart. I want to KNOW, deep down in my soul, that God is who He says He is. That He wants for me all good things in life, and that He will come through for me.
Perhaps this is why the bible says, “ Then Jesus invited a little child to stand among them and said, “ Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Mathew 18:3 . My grand daughter Violet believes without complication. She is humble and receives joy with lighthearted abandon. She is content in the little things and yet awed by majestic splendor. As an adult I have been changed by the concerns of the world. In all it’s brokenness sometimes I lose sight of God’s promises. Violet comes to us, her family, as a child. She trusts us to provide for her, protect her and she trusts us to cherish her.
Becoming more like Violet to me means seeing God as my loving Father. A Father whos love is not dependent on my good performance. A Father who delights in me. A Father who supplies all of my needs and the desires of my heart. It means coming to Him with my arms wide open and saying, “Hold me God, you are everything to me.”