“I love my kids, but I love God more”

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“Love the Lord your God with all your heart.”

-Matthew 22:37

So as I sit here this morning I have Silas laying on the couch beside me, smiling away just enjoying life.  Here he is just making noises, following different lights around the room with his eyes, and just being content.  As I stare down at him, my mind can’t help but wander and think, does he know that I love him?  Does he translate when daddy says, “I love you little man?”  Does he have a grasp to that when I pick him up to comfort him when he cries?  Our older son Eli is now a little over 2 years old and starting to say, “I love you” back to us when we say it.  You can also tell in his actions that he is now grasping the love from Linds and I.  When he runs up to us at the end of the day excited that we are home from work, or after being gone for a few days and asking the question, “Daddy come home yet?”  He gets it!

Yet my mind also starts to contemplate the question,  I wonder if they can understand my love for God?  Because you see, to me, that is even more important that them knowing that I love them.  I want them to know and understand the love of God from my example.  I want them to know and truly grasp that it is more important for me to love and serve God as my number one priority even over loving them.  That may sound harsh and countercultural, but it is biblical.  Loving God first.

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Now don’t get me wrong I would do absolutely anything for my kids, I love them more than I knew was humanly possible.  I would sacrifice myself for them.  I hate seeing when they are in pain or sick, and my heart breaks for them.  But the bottom line here is, my kids are not my God and I want them to know that.  I would venture to say though that for many of us we have allowed our kids to take that role in our lives.  Instead of leading them towards Christ and living a righteous life we have allowed our kids to become the guiding light and determining factor in our lives instead of seeking God’s wisdom.  We have honestly flipped the roles around when it comes to faith.  We have placed our kids on the throne, and then made God number 2.  Hear me please on this as I have been completely convicted on this in my own life and still struggle with what this will look like as Eli and Silas get older.  I am not here to be there friend, I am not here or designed to serve them, I am here, designed and created to be their dad and show them what it means to love God first and foremost.  Will it mean at times they get upset with me for having biblical rules in our household?  Without a doubt.  Will it mean at times they think I am old fashioned, most likely.  Will it also mean that they get to understand the grace of God because of my love for God first and then allowing that to translate into my love for them?  That is my hope and goal.

When my boys grow up I want them to understand that they have a daddy and mommy who love them.  But for Lindsey and I, ultimately we want our kids to know that we love God first.  We want our boys to grow up understanding that our love for God drives our decisions, not our love for them.  God first, then the boys.  We want our boys to grow up able to say that their mommy and daddy love Jesus more than life itself.

What about you?  Do your kids know that you love God even more than them?  Or are they on the throne in your life?  I am not trying to sound harsh with this but this answer will determine how you raise your kids.  Is it about them or about God himself?

“Choose you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house we will serve the LORD.”

 – Joshua 24:15

“Helpless”

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It’s the big day!  Our second child, Silas Koa is about to be born!  The emotions, the excitement, the anticipation, the unknown, yeah I am dealing with all of it right now.  As I sit here and wait watching the screens, counting the contractions, monitoring the heart rate, and checking on Lindsey I am noticing just how helpless I am in this situation.  So here has been my solution, I’ve been pacing, watching tv, eating, and driving Lindsey nuts, only to realize I have absolutely no control.  I can’t rush the process.  I can’t take her pain.  I can’t change how this will affect our future or how Eli will respond to being a brother.  It is one of the strangest feelings because if any of you know me, I like to have a sense on control in my life.

The truth is though, the more I admit how helpless I am, the more it forces me to just turn to God and trust him to be greater than my helplessness.  I can’t take Lindsey’s pain, but I can pray for Lindsey’s health and comfort.  I can’t change our future, but I can trust God when he says not to worry.   So I just sit and wait, finding comfort in God being God.

2 Corintians 12:9-10, “three times I begged the Lord to take it away, each time he said, “My grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness.”  So now I am glad to boast about my weakness so that the power of Christ can work though me… For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

It’s crazy to think that it has been two years since sitting in this same spot waiting for Eli to be born.  Crying out to God that night, and having to just place Lindsey’s body in His mighty hands.

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Our lil man Eli Micyah

What if I learned how to live everyday in this same sense of helplessness and need of God? What if we all learned what it meant to truly be at a spot to have to just cry out because we can’t do anything.  I would dare to say we would see God work more in ways that only He can.  The problem, I believe, is that we have become so self-sufficient that we have lost what it means to need God in our daily lives.  Due to that, and relying on ourselves we have missed the power of God working around us.

 

 

“Hangry”

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Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”

Pancakes, waffles, yogurt, french toast sticks, chicken fries, you name it, our kid loves to eat.  It doesn’t matter what time of day it is, if he is hungry he lets it be known.  He will walk straight into the kitchen and point at the cabinet of what he wants and honestly if you try and get him the wrong thing he will let you know.  “NOOOOO, Fench Toast, or yogut.”  (He doesn’t really say r’s yet.)  You get the idea.

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I have learned over the last few months with Lindsey being pregnant that you don’t mess with someone when they are hungry.  When the hunger gets so great, the anger aspect starts to come out in both of them, to what she has described as “Hangry.”  As defined by urban dictionary, (I know a high quality source) When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both.  Now at first I thought this idea was ridiculous and just an excuse, living with a pregnant wife and a two year old, I have found this to be a completely true idea.

So as we sit here this morning with him chowing down on waffles, scrambled eggs, and pop-tarts, it has got me thinking.  What if we had such a spiritual craving that we became “Hangry.”  Hear me out on this.  What if we fed our bodies physical food the way most of us feed our spiritual bodies, 1 hour a week, maybe 2 if we attend a Bible study.   Would it affect our moods?  Would it affect how we respond to each other.  Can you truly imagine right now with me how you would act and respond if you only had 1 hour of food a week.  The “hanger” in the world would be ridiculous, and it would cause me to want to seclude myself and stay clear from everyone.  See what I am getting at?

Yet when it comes to our spiritual lives, we are doing exactly that.  Starving our Spirit, which craves and longs for the Word of God.  Now I am not saying the only way to feed that Spirit has to be sitting and reading.  There are many other ways to feed that craving.  Time in prayer, serving others, in fellowship with other believers, listening to worship or a message.  The point is though we need to be feeding our Spirit.  If you want your faith to grow, I ask the question now, are you feeding your spirit?

 

 

Rebellion

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So to be honest this past month with Eli has been extremely challenging for both Lindsey and I.  He is getting to the spot in life of truly learning what the word “no” means and not getting what he wants.  Whether you call it the start of the terrible twos or just him learning independence, it has caused alot of sleepless nights.  Screaming, shouting, kicking, did I say screaming, headbutting, yep you name it.  It is usually over the dumbest things, like getting him the wrong drink from the fridge or giving him the wrong shoes to wear.  The bottom line is he thinks he knows better than Lindsey and I and he wants to do things his own way.

It has got me thinking about the idea of rebellion we have against God at times when we don’t get our own way.  Kicking and Screaming, telling God we know better.  This goes back to the  beginning of time with Adam and Eve.  God had one simple command, “Don’t eat of this fruit.”  Yet what do they do, they eat of it.  “God, we know better.   We know what you said, but this apple, orange, whatever it was, really looked good God.  so we ate it.”

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”  -Genesis 3:6

It may sound ridiculous in comparing Eli’s tantrums to our responses to God, but picture it with me.  God as the our father trying to protect us, “don’t touch the hot stove,” yet we as a child learning and desiring independence do the exact opposite.  How many times do we do exactly the opposite of what God asks of us.  Rebellion at heart.  We know Scripture say to forgive, “but God you don’t know what they did to me.”  Love the outcast, “but God, and we come up with our excuses.”  The list could go on and on of ways we rebel, but next time you do think of it as being like Eli, a baby child kicking and screaming.

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This is one of his devious faces he makes.  When we see this look we know he is up to something, now it is just a matter of figuring out what.

In us telling God that we know better, in choosing our own path,  what we are really saying is this, “God, in my 34 years of living, I think you should change things and follow my way.”  At this point God replies and goes very sarcastically, “You’re right your 34 years truly do outnumber my thousands of years, oh wait all eternity’s worth of time, let’s do it your way.”  See what I am getting at?  See my point?  It is Eli saying to me while throwing a fit, “Daddy in my two years of living, I know more than you.”

What are you rebelling about today?  Have you ever pictured it that way before?  “NOOOO God, I know better.”

“Today when you hear the voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.”  -Hebrews 3:15

I think honestly the hardest part of all of this has been when I know Eli is comprehending what I am saying, and then still choosing to run the other way.  It would be one thing if he didn’t understand, but man does it frustrate me when he knows and still does the exact opposite.  Sound familiar?

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves, do what it says.”  -James 1:22

Do what Daddy says Eli.  Do what God says.

 

 

 

 

“I follow, I follow”

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So recently Eli has been starting to put short sentences together.  “I help, Me do, I get it, and still of course the famous NOOOOO, Daddy.”  Probably one of his favorite new statements has to be, “I Follow.”  Everywhere I go, “I follow”  If I am going downstairs to do the laundry, “I follow.”  If I am going outside to take out the trash, “Me follow.”  Even if I am going into the bathroom and really don’t want a follower, I will get a knock on the door, “Daddy, I follow.”  Most the time it is awesome, my lil man just wants to be there, but there are sometimes where I find myself tripping and falling over him.

Right now he is taking a nap, so I am finally getting a breather, because from the moment Eli is awake to the time he goes to bed he is literally nonstop.  He doesn’t really watch TV except for the movie Cars, but even with that it is usually 10 minutes then up and running again.  He is just nonstop on the go, following us around.

As I have a moment to sit and think about it though, I believe him following without questions is exactly what we as believers are truly to be doing with Jesus, following Him.  Think about it in the aspect that Jesus tells us to have “faith like a child.”   Maybe this is exactly what he means.  “Just Follow Me.”  We now question everything. “Jesus, why this? Jesus, why that?” Question after question.  Now I know that one day Eli will start to question everything.  For now though,I will take him just following me as the example to how we should be as disciples.

Mark 10:14-15, “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me.  These children are at the very center of life in the Kingdom.  Mark this:  Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.”  (The Message)

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Did you know that the word disciple literally translates, “follower?”  If I had to ask you right now if you were following after Jesus, how would you respond?  Because in today’s culture we have completely flipped the equation to be, “Jesus, follow me.”  Instead of us following, we are now making the commands and telling Him how we think we should live.  The problem is, that is not what the Bible teaches.  It doesn’t teach Him following us, it teaches us following Him.

Why this is so key and I get so passionate about it, (by the way I am yelling through the screen right now) is that in telling Jesus to follow us we are telling Him we know better than he does.  It’s like me saying to Him, “Jesus I know what your word says, but I have 34 years experience now in this thing called life and I really think you should do it my way, your way is kinda old fashioned.”  At that moment, I can imagine him looking at me and just saying sarcastically, “You’re right Josh, your 34 years experience are so much more than well lets see, My all-eternity experience in creation.” Yeah maybe I don’t know as much as I thought.

So next time you have a decision to make or a choice that you are confused about, maybe it is time to become like Eli, and just say to God, “I Follow.”  How much simpler would the Christian life be if we just learned to follow after Him.  We have over complicated it so badly, Jesus gave us the example, now it is time for us to follow.  Will you follow today?

 

 

Grace Redefined…

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38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have read this verse many times in my lifetime and even spoken time and again about the depth of God’s love and grace for us quoting this verse.  In all honesty though, I never truly understood this idea  of God’s grace until Eli was born.

Think about this verse in the aspect of being a parent.  Will there be times Eli lets Lindsey and I down?  Absolutely!  Will there be times he disappoints us?  Without a doubt!  Moments where you just want to scream and pull the gray hair he has caused you out?  Already happening at times!

Will we ever stop loving him?  Never!

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THE FACE HE MAKES WHEN HE KNOWS HE’S SCREWED UP.  LIKE, “YEAH DAD, WHAT’S UP?”

To understand this though, I’ve had to reexamine myself the commands of Scripture and why they are there.

Are there going to be moments that he breaks the rules of the house?  This makes me think of when I was a kid. Did I break the rules, then? Yeah! He will too. Will he blatantly disobey us at times because he thinks he knows better?  I think all kids go through that phase at one point or another.  Speaking of rules, let’s talk about that for a second.

In Scripture there are rules, commands if you will, that many see as God’s way of taking away our fun. He’s being a stickler, waiting to catch us when we screw up, or just sitting in heaven, as the righteous judge, waiting to cast down some thunder.  What if those commands, though, are truly him wanting what is best for us?  What if those commands are there to protect us?  Maybe his way of pointing us back towards Himself and showing us that we cannot do this life on our own?  What if God’s commands are truly there for our best interest?

I remember thinking to myself, as a kid, I knew better than my parents.  That their rules were old fashioned, and did it really matter if I broke a few of those rules.   It really isn’t that big of a deal, now is it?  However as a parent now myself, I have come to understand those rules of the house are there because I want what’s best for Eli. This was just like what my parents wanted for me.  I have, also, come to realize that God’s laws and commands, are there because God desires what is best for me.

Now, am I naive to think that Eli will never break a rule of the house or disobey Lindsey and I.  If only it were that simple.  The reality is though, he will let us down and disappoint us at times. We may have to sit him down and have multiple talks about certain subjects.  In those moments, however,  will we ever stop loving him? No, because this is where grace comes in. As well as that verse from so many years ago.  Now I see differently as a parent, helping me to understand the depth of God’s love. Like that verse says, I don’t believe there is anything lil man could do that would ever make me stop loving him.

As a children of God, the same is true us.  Will  there be moments we let him down, break his commands? I would love to say no, but because of sinful nature it will happen at times.  Will God ever stop loving us?  According to Paul’s words here, I say an emphatic no!

Take comfort in that! That is grace.

Phillip Yancey says this in What’s So Amazing About Grace, “There is nothing you can do to make God love you more.  There is nothing you can do to make God love you less.”

As a child of His, GOD LOVES YOU!

 

 

Imitation

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Follow Me as I follow Christ.  1 Corinthians 11:1

Imitate:  Take or follow as a model.

You want to know some of the habits and traits that you have?  You want to know how other people see the things you are doing?  Then have a child.  You truly never understand some of the quirks that you have until you see your son start to act the same way and do the same things.  In some ways this is awesome, but then other times you want to scream and say to them, “Where did you learn that?  Did Mommy teach you that?”

The more you watch these habits though, the more you realize you are the one who is guilty of these actions your son is now imitating.  In the same sense though it can be an unbelievable thing when you see your son picking up on things you do that make you as a dad super proud.

Linds and I have always been ones to stop and pray before we eat.  We gather around the island in the kitchen with Eli up in his highchair.   So here we are grabbing hands, closing our eyes, and thanking God for the food before us.  After a few weeks of this we begin to notice Eli starting to do the same thing.  He is about 8 months old, grabbing our hands and closing his eyes.  Now at this age, he is at the point where he will get up in his highchair, look at us and say, “PWAY” as he closes his eyes and folds his hands.  We didn’t teach him that, he caught it from us.

Another example is with Linds cleaning up the house.  Eli loves being like mommy, go into the closet and get the Swiffer out himself as Linds gets the vacuum out.  He sees her cleaning and he wants to help, to the point he has his own cleaning tools.

Sometimes, this can be incredible to watch and makes you extremely proud. Other times, it can drive you nuts to be completely honest.  Last week, I was trying to paint in the hall.  So here I am, on the stepladder, trying to reach the high spots.  As I’m up there, I start hear a dripping behind me.  My first thought was we must have a water leak so I start searching for it.  Nothing, thank goodness.  Then I look down and see Eli smiling away, a second paintbrush in his hand with brown paint up to the handle.  He is shaking it up and down making a painting motion as paint flung all over the hallway, down the front of him, through his hair and all over the floor.  I wanted to get mad but all I could do was laugh, because he just imitating his daddy.  So I called for Linds and she came in helping me get him cleaned up.  We learned the valuable lesson to keep things such as paintbrushes high and out of his reach.

One of the craziest ways I have seen Eli imitate Lindsey and I is in our words.  We have a 100 lb lab/st. bernard mix puppy (or bear to many) and he has to be one of the neediest dogs ever.  I swear it is nonstop whining and crying, wanting in and out.  There are times when Eli will be crying, Bomber wants out and all you can do is mumble something at him telling him in a subtle way to go sit down and hush up.  The next thing you know Eli is saying the same exact thing, “hush, hush.”  He hears our words and then starts repeating them, like we have our own little parrot in the room.  What words are we teaching him?

It has truly been a lesson for me though in being an example for him in my faith.  If I want to see him become a man of prayer, I have to be that example of a man who prays myself.  If I want to see him learn to read Scripture, I better be reading it myself.  If I want to see Eli learn to be a man who cares for others, who gives, who leads, and the list goes on, I better be ready to allow him to see my example.  Like the old saying goes, “more is caught than taught.”

I can only imagine Eli saying to me one day, “Well dad, I don’t see you doing those things.” How convicting would that be for you?  I know my heart would break.  I want to be that example for my child. How about you?

Now when we are at the church, during worship, I will holding Eli in my arms and he will raise his hands over his head.  What a moment for a dad, he may not be able to sing yet or know the words, but he has seen his daddy and mommy in worship raising their hands.

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I believe that is exactly what Paul is talking about here is this passage, saying to the Corinthians, look at my example.  Follow me as I follow.  I can only imagine the Corinthian people looking at him and saying, “but Paul we don’t see that example in you.”  He had to live what he taught himself.

We live in a culture now though where we use the excuse or the line, “do as I say, not as I do.”  It doesn’t work that way with kids.  They learn what they see.  They do as you do.  Good and bad.

One final thought though, is for someone to imitate you they have to spend time with you.  For you to imitate Christ, you have to spend time with Him.  You want your kids to learn to spend time with Christ, you have to learn what that means yourself and set that example.  Imitation comes from being around someone, watching them, and doing as they do.

I can only wait and see the things that Eli picks up on from Linds and I’s example.  I hope and pray most of what he does will be good traits but I know along the way we will fail at times, so please take a moment and pray for us as we try and be an example for him and for others.  While you’re at it, pray for the example you ‘re being.

Ummmm…. NO!

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Obedience or Ummmm… No

So recently Lindsey and I have noticed a major shift in Eli, he is learning independence.  He is finding a love for playing by himself and becoming very self sufficient.  That also means he is learning a parent’s worst nightmare, disobedience and his love to say no.  He has started comprehending when we are telling him to do something, and learned the difference in yes and no.   Whether it’s standing on the couch or climbing up on the end tables, he will just stare at us.  We can say, “Eli, get down,” he will look at us for a few moments thinking about it and then say, “ummm, no.”  He will then proceed to shake his head at us like it is a proud moment.  He doesn’t understand that we are trying to protect him and want the best for him. All Eli sees in that moment is I don’t want to listen.

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(Here is one of those moments.)

Now hear these words of Jesus in thinking about that.  “If you love me, keep my commands”

I have been thinking about his simple statement of “umm no” a lot recently. Thinking, how many times do we say that to God?  He gives us a command, we think about, it a few moments, and then we shake our heads, “ummm no.” I don’t like that idea, so God, I am going to tell you no.  Maybe in not such bold terms as looking God square in the eye, saying no, but by doing our own thing.

We know what God is calling us to do or what His word is saying, instead in our minds we choose our own path.  What we are really saying is, God I know better than you in this matter and I’m going to make my own choice.

                  “God, I know your word says to forgive.  Ummmm, no you don’t know what that person did to me.  It’s only one grudge.”

                  “God, I know your word says to love the broken, but those people over there are just too different from me.”

                  “God, I know your word says… Ummmm No.”

Do you get my drift? We pick and choose what we want to follow.  We think that God is trying to steal our fun or put regulations on us by telling us to follow his commands.  As a dad, I have realized so much more! His commands are really there to protect us and lead us towards the blessed life He has for us.  He wants the best for us, however we just do not always see that.

We pick and choose what we like. I’ll follow this one, but that one is a little too much for me God.  We think His commands are stopping us, but what God is really doing is trying to put up road signs to protect us.  To save us from going off a cliff: Slow Down.  Sharp Curve Ahead.  Steep Cliff.

As a dad, if I watched Eli driving towards that cliff, I would do everything I could to stop him. I believe any loving parent would do the same thing. Now let’s go back to the idea of Eli climbing on the furniture.  Maybe he proceeds to fall, starts crying and then gets upset at Lindsey and I, like it is our fault.  We tried to protect him.  We tried to lead him and  get him down, but he kept choosing to do his own thing.  Then he blames us.

How often are we the same way? We pick and choose our own path, we drive off the cliff, and then we blame God.  “God, how could you let this happen?!”

I can only imagine God replying,” I tried to protect you. I gave you my word, my commands, but you didn’t want to listen.”

God is our heavenly father and his commands are for us.  They aren’t meant to stop us from living but meant to allow us to truly live the way God designed us to live.

Are you willing to say yes to God, be obedient, or are you like Eli and saying, “Ummmm, no?!”

“CRY OUT TO ME.”

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                “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” Romans 8:15

As Eli has been growing, I have started to notice that he has different cries, different sounds he makes based on what he is feeling or going through.  For you parents out there, you know what I am talking about.  First there is the “I am hungry” cry, a louder, feisty type cry.  Then there is the “I am tired,”  “fighting sleep cry, where he is rubbing his eyes, yawning, barely keeping his eyes open but screaming at the top of his lungs because he doesn’t want to miss anything.  Then there is the “I am bored,” tired of being stuck in the carseat, get me outta here cry, which if ignored can turn into an all out ear piercing noise.  How about the “diaper needs changed” cry, not really a way to describe that one until you have experienced it firsthand.

In all these different cries it is Eli’s way of reaching out to tell us something is wrong.  As I listen to him cry, I catch myself going Eli, just talk to me, tell me what is up.  I don’t understand what these different noises mean.  Talk to me bud, Talk to me.  Then he starts to reach out to me, crawl over to my leg and grab on, pulling himself up my shin, just reaching up.  I just wish he could tell me what was actually taking place within his body, let me know what his pain was, or what was causing his discomfort  As he cries, All I can do is reach down, pick him up and hold him.  Guess what, most times that is exactly what he want.  He wants his daddy and mommy!

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What if that is exactly how we are designed to be when it comes to God.  What if we were meant to just cry out to him, to speak to him, to tell him what is taking place in our lives.  As Christians, many of us would probably say, yeah I get that, we are called to pray, but how many of us actually do it in our times of need.  What if when we are hurt, or in pain, or even just seeking purpose we would just reach up and cry out.

I believe it is exactly what God is asking of us, for us to tell him what is taking place, and allowing Him to reach down, to pick us up and just hold us.    We may feel like what we are going through is not that big of a deal so we don’t want to bother God with it.  Look back at that verse in Romans 8, God wants to be your “DADDY,” he wants you to talk to him about what is taking place in your life.  He wants you to turn to him, to run to him.  He isn’t just an image in the sky or some dictator pointing down at you saying. “I caught you again.”  He is your heavenly father saying, “just talk to me.”  Maybe our issue is that we think we need just the right words for God, to make him understand our situation, like if we say it just right, or add a couple thee’s and thou’s to our prayers.  I know I have been there before where I feel like my prayers are hitting the ceiling and I look up and just shake my fist saying, “God, are you hearing me?”  Okay, if that prayer didn’t work, lets try and reword it a little bit, then maybe He will hear it sooner.  If that is you, please consider this verse.

               “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

It is not about the words we use though, like I said, He just desires us to cry out.  To hit our knees, to reach up, and allow Him to do what he does best.  As our heavenly Father, He reaches down, picks us up, and says, “I got this, Trust me my child.”

You are God’s Masterpiece

Posted on by Fireproof

He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.  James 1:18

Each day as Eli grows and begins to conquer new things, I have learned to see him in a whole new light.  Not to say that I wasn’t already a proud parent or super pumped about the things he was or is doing, but just watching him grow, trying new things makes me want to completely brag him up.  Like when he first started walking or saying dada, I couldn’t wait to tell my friends about it.  Or when people see Eli and tell me how much he has my smile or Lindsey’s face, I just want to be like, “yep, that’s right, that’s my boy.”  The first time he climbed the stairs to the first time he smiled to the first time he took a poop (Okay maybe not then).  I think my kid is one of the most awesome, incredible kids I have ever seen.

To be honest before he was born and Lindsey would look at babies and tell me how cute they were, I never really saw it.  But of course I would just go along with what she was saying and make comments like,  yeah look at those chubby cheeks, or look at those faces.  In all reality though, my thoughts were more like man what are they feeding that child, or I have no clue what you see, but I just see another baby.  Talk about a change in perspective when that child is your own.

The more that Eli learns to do, and as I continue to watch him grow, I see him as a perfect masterpiece!  His smile, his personality, his laugh, his face, his noises, everything!  The kid is just stinking awesome.IMG_1812

I will never forget when we took him snowboarding for the first time at 13 months.  Here we are at the ski lodge getting him all geared up and to be honest he looked like the kid in Christmas Story, all bundled up and unable to move.  There were people all around us watching and wondering if we were really taking our kid out at that age to try.  As we got outside you could look up and see the windows of the lodge lined with people around to watch him.  To see this little man who could barely walk not getting strapped on to a snowboard.  Guess what?  He did it.  I am telling you our lil man was a natural.  Smiling and loving it.  I would set him down and let him go and then run in front of him.  What a proud moment.  Especially when you hear the next day in his opinion for our kid to be snowboarding is “impossible, he shouldn’t have that kind of balance yet.”

Now it may sound like I am being a little biased and maybe I am, but I’m saying all these things about Eli for a reason.  I am bragging him up and making him sound perfect in every way because I believe that is exactly how God sees you.  You were not a mistake.  As we said earlier, you were fearfully and wonderfully made, every aspect.

With Eli’s birth and seeing God’s creation take that first breath,  God has shown me that he sees each and every child the way I see Eli.  As his first fruit of all creation, as his crown, as his masterpiece.  Look around the world at all other things that God has made.  Those amazing sunsets every night.   The Mountain peaks as you drive across the plains and see the Rockies for the first time.  The sight and sound of the Niagara Falls, all these natural wonders that God made.  Yet Scripture tells us we are his first fruits.

How about all the birds of the air and all their wonderful colors or the beauty that is found in the all the wildflowers.  All of these don’t equal the relationship that God has and desires with each and every one of us.  I may sound like I am exaggerating this but truly look back at Scripture.  James tells us that we are his first fruit.  In The Message, Eugene Peterson describes us as “his crown jewel.”  I have also hear it described or translated as His Masterpiece.

Now when I hear the word masterpiece, it makes me think of like the Mona Lisa, a true masterpiece in art.  I am not a big art person, so I really do not understand what makes this piece such a masterpiece, but I have been told it is.  I have a very simple, naive mind, and when I see a picture of the Mona Lisa, I just see a picture of a grumpy woman.  Apparently though to art critics this piece represents so much more.  A piece of history, a crown painting, a masterpiece.

That is how God sees you and me.  Since Eli has been born I am continually reminded that the pride I have in him and the way I see him is the way God looks down on us.  I can only imagine him looking at all of us and saying “WOW, Look, what I have made this time.”  You are His prized treasure, his creation, his masterpiece.  Will you see yourself that way today?