who loves you?

I asked Lillian, “Who loves you?” Usually she’ll say, “Daddy or Mommy.” Today she said, “Jesus loves me.” And then while eating her cookie with me at Starbucks she hummed the melody to Jesus loves me. She’s been singing it everywhere she goes. I realize she doesn’t really understand the impact of her answer. To her Jesus is like any other character in a song she sings. Jesus to Lillian is like the farmer Old McDonald. At the same time I know she understands the concept of love through her parents. She knows that love is a really good thing. And so Lillian can sing with great affection about someone endlessly loving her because who wouldn’t want to be loved by someone so strong? Thought it was a good moment and one I’ll not forget for probably a long time…

fun stuff

My favorite summer dress on Lillian…  Where did the summer go (sigh)?

change

On the backyard porch again.  A bit damp from the rain last night. It’s good though; nice and quiet. Reminds me that we’re in a new season which is something I’ve been thinking about this morning. Paul writes that we’re “transforming from glory to glory” or “increasing into his likeness” (2 Cor. 3-5). There’s this sense in which true transformation is never ending. Never do I get the sense that Paul wants us to get comfortable; never are we to think we’ve arrived. Life is just one large transition before I meet Jesus? If true then actually feeling content may never be possible until we meet him. And if this is true then we should actually embrace change; we should constantly be asking ourselves if we’ve become too comfortable on a regular basis. Surrendering more and more of myself these days…

zoo

Been thinking about core values lately. One of those that is really important to me is the idea of transparent worship; it’s the permission to be real before God and others. And that made me think today about my time with Lillian at the zoo. 

We found ourselves staring at a brown bear.  A little girl standing next to us turned to her mom and said, “Why does he look so sad?” Her mom said, “He’s probably just sleepy.” And then her little brother turned to her and said,  “It’s because this isn’t his real home.” Minutes later while making our way to a different part of the zoo Lillian says, “Bear sad.” Thereafter, she repeated the same line with every new animal she saw: “Giraffe sad”… “hippo sad”… “zebra sad”… “elephant sad”… “monkey sad…”