Sometimes, during an ordinary moment between a mother and child, the most extraordinary thing can happen. A tender embrace and warm cuddle can lead to a child saying something that makes your heart break in a million pieces, yet those very same words have the power to give life and make you whole.
We were engaging in the back and forth volley of how much I love you. You know, where you say something like, “I love you to the moon and back.” And your sweet one tries to quantify her love for you by saying something like, “I love you to the moon and back PLUS infinity and beyond.”
And then, she said this: “Mama, you know how Jesus died for us? Well, I would die for you.”
My first gut wrenching response was, “Noooooooo…”
Which I must have verbalized out loud because the next thing she said was, “Yes. Yes I would.”
Talk about feeling unworthy.
In that moment, I felt all my inadequacies as a mother. My sins and selfish choices. That pride that sometimes wells up and that impatience and harshness that can get the best of me.
Yet at the same time, her words gave a voice to the beautiful gospel. Right there, in our living room, on the corner of our couch, my 8 year-old, wrapped in my arms, gave me of the gift of redemption.
True to her namesake, not because I deserved it or because I was worthy, but simply because of her great love for me. What a humbling reminder of the good news Jesus brings. He offers the same gift to each of us. Do we say no and reject it or do we accept it, rest in it, and allow it to change us from the inside out?
In a culture that screams, “It’s OK to be selfish!” and “I deserve better!”, selfLESSness is a rarity these days, much less the notion of giving up your life for the sake of another.
Dying to ourselves might be the quiet choice we make every day but choosing to die for another is quite a different kind of love. It’s a different kind of brave. Especially for a child.
It’s in these ordinary and simple days of summer that something delightfully rich is happening around here. My little girls are growing up. Not just in size but in spirit. It’s been fascinating to watch and an honor to be a part of. They inspire me with all that is good and right with the world and they encourage me to keep fighting the good fight and running the race with hope and perseverance.
And sometimes, it’s through them, His redemption story repeats itself all over again.
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