That’s Exactly How I Love You

I worked part time at a daycare when I first moved to Oklahoma. My coworker and I were in charge of 12 babies ranging from 10-16 months old. Yes, TWELVE. I’ve never changed so many diapers or warmed so many baby bottles up in my entire life. We were never bored, that’s for sure! What a job. And what a joy! They were ‘our’ babies, ‘my’ babies, and I loved them dearly.

However, one of my babies, whom I shall call Ryan, was such a whiner. More than most. He was so impatient, always wanted his bottle first, and would complain and whimper at the smallest of things. To be honest, he was really quite annoying. I smile as I write this knowing that one of the greatest lessons I learned during that time, came from him.

Ironically, Ryan had decided that I was his person. He loved me and wanted me to pick him up constantly. The eleven other babies we were running after didn’t seem to be on his radar. He had chosen me somehow and I did not know why. Every afternoon when I walked in the door, Ryan would squeal with delight and run to me, hands reaching up, eyes beaming, so excited that I was there.

Day after day this happened. Whine here and whine there, but all smiles the second my attention was on him. For about two months straight, this was the routine and I just couldn’t get rid of my frustration toward him. I wanted Ryan to hurry up and grow out of the stage he was in. Why was it just him that annoyed me? The other babies had their things too!

One afternoon, everything changed. I walked in the door knowing Ryan would be running for me and sure enough, he squealed his little happy squeal, dropped the toys he’d been playing with and started toward me. His arms were up, his smile big, and as I put my bag on the counter ready to pick him up, the Lord spoke to me in that exact moment. It was so unexpected and so quick but He changed my heart in an instant.

All He said told me on the inside was, “That’s exactly how I love you.” Tears sprung to my eyes as I tried to blink them away with the 2 seconds I had left before Ryan reached me. I reached for him, picked him up, squeezed him, and held him in that moment, whispering a silent thank you to God. He hugged my neck back with his little arms, content and happy as always. The whole thing was so unexpected. A lesson from God in the midst of a busy day, a moment where He taught me and showed me who He was and who I was to Him.

This is God – so excited to see us, so happy we’re here, so happy we’ve come to Him. We haven’t done a thing, we just showed up and we made His day. It’s so simple and yet so profound. We forget how much He loves His kids. We get busy, distracted, tempted to ‘earn’ His love by ‘doing’. And yet none of that matters to Him. He just loves us because we’re His.

From that day on, I couldn’t wait to see Ryan. He became what I looked forward to each afternoon. He had won me over and his mission was accomplished, but in reality, I believe it had been God’s mission all along. His mission to show me how much He loved me and to let me know that I was His favorite, I was His choice – everyday. Just because. And you are in the very same boat. You are His dearly loved and He can’t wait to be with you.

Jeremiah 31:3 “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”