Gemma made my day yesterday afternoon. She was playing around on her little floor mat in the living room while I was taking care of a few things in the kitchen. After a few minutes, I walked over to take a peek at her. I leaned over the top of the mat and said "Hi!" to her. She was so excited to see me that she let out this loud, high-pitched squeal of delight, accompanied by a huge smile and some flailing limbs. It made me so happy that she was that excited to see me.
Life with Gemma is teaching me so much. I have a much better understanding these days of what the whole concept of "faith like a child" really means. Gemma is so innocent and trusting. She loves Cy and me, and her love for us is totally unconditional. She hasn't yet developed any room for doubt or fear. And her love is such a gentle reminder to me of how I should be. When I have moments of frustration with her (usually while trying to feed her), I try to stop and remember how she loves me so much even though I am so far from being a perfect mom.
When she squealed at me yesterday, Cy said something along the lines of "Wow, you're her whole world. How does that feel?" and it really made an impression on me. I (and Cy too) am Gemma's whole world right now and that is a huge responsibility. But it is also a huge blessing, and it really struck me that this is how my relationship with Christ should be. He should be my whole world, and each moment of my life in Christ should make me shriek with happiness because I have as much faith and love as a child. And here I thought I needed to worry about what I will be teaching Gemma, when so far, she has been the one teaching me!
"At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 18:2-4
2 comments:
this is sooooo true! And just wait until you have to start the discipline process. It is such a reminder of how God knows what is good for us and we run kicking and screaming in the other direction. Having children is such a beautiful picture of our relationship with God.
Thank you for sharing this moment and these thoughts. It has blessed by day and spoken to my heart. I am blessed by the mother you are to your little girl. I love all of you.
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