Sweet Security...

So first, it's been so good to hear from some of you! I feel like I'm catching up with old friends!! I didn't mean to drop off the planet, but the last couple of months of teaching Revelation was so hard, it consumed my time and thoughts.

I'll tell you more in another post, but this was my last year as Teaching Director for our CBS class. After my trip to Africa in November, I clearly sensed God leading me in a different direction, so I finished the year, but starting in the fall, I will be on to new things! I'm really excited, but as I said, I'll save that for another post!!

I just wanted to take a minute and share something else about Abby that has been really obvious the last few days...

Abby has a tendency sometimes to get overly excited about something and she tries to take control of some situations. It's almost like she forgets she's 8 and tries to tell me what to do. I don't think it's malicious or disrespectful, because it's always at times when she's either excited or trying to be helpful.

But sometimes when I'm tired, or focused on getting something done, I respond a little more sharply than I should and that happened twice yesterday. The minute the words were out of my mouth, I cringed because my tone sounded harsh and for some reason I'm so afraid of that feeling like rejection to her.

So each time yesterday I waited to see how she would respond. I didn't really do anything to warrant an apology, but I was willing to step in if I needed to reassure her. I think I really expected her to withdraw from me...

But I was blown away by how she handled it... Both times, it was almost like she took a minute to reconsider her approach and then jumped right back into the situation, handling it in an appropriate way. She seemed to understand that she had gone too far and was willing to take my response as correction, but not as rejection.

As I thought about that last night, I realized how far we've come! Abby is so secure now! She knows I'm her mommy... She seems to understand, with all of her heart, that I love her and she is finally letting that love penetrate her heart.

But you know, it's occurred to me more than once during this journey, that like Abby, I have a hard time receiving love from others, especially God's love. His love is so great and so undeserved that sometimes I think I just don't allow the magnitude of it to penetrate my heart and soul. But wow, when I take some time to soak in it, life just looks different!

I am so thankful that Abby is finding her security with us... That she really gets that we love her unconditionally... And I pray that God will use our love to teach her what His love is like, because our love for her is just a taste of His lavish and abundant love...

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1