Day 5 of the “Wild Kids, Wild God – 31 Days looking at God’s Heart” Series.
No amount of books can prepare you for becoming a parent. You can read about missed sleep, missed showers, missed meals, missed mind… but you can’t prepare for how that actually feels.
I had a free moment one day—whoa, mom with four kids and a free moment?!— and stopped in a store to get a jacket. I 
looked through the racks and found a cute pleather one in off-white. I took a deep breath and tried it on….Man, it looked nice! I loved it —can you have a physical feeling for a piece of fabric? I did.
But then reality set in: Wrong color: kids with bananas on their hands and snot in their noses…this will get wrecked in an instant!
I needed something dark, comfortable, pockets for tissue, Washable. And I thought: Wow, the things we do for the kids….
Short list: we gave up our hobbyroom/office so that our first child could have his own room. We moved pretty-but-breakable things out and put child-locks and rubber corners in. And then there’s physical and mental sacrifices… Who knew how precious a shower was? Who knew going to the bathroom was an absolute luxury? Toothbrushing? What a treat! Out to the movies? Try again next year!
Parents give up sleep, hobbies, personal care and comfort for the kids…whatever is necessary at that moment. And if needed, their lives..
As I write this I know some of you may have had such terrible parent relationships that this all sounds foreign and false. For anyone who was ever hurt physically/mentally/verbally, abandoned, rejected, blamed, shouted at, picked on, called an accident… For anyone whose parent didn’t stand up for or protect them, but was instead like an enemy, I’m SO SORRY. That was SO WRONG and that is TOTALLY NOT God’s Heart for you! His Heart Blazes with Love for you! (see here for more on that).
I passed on a great jacket. God passed on the Heavens. I gave up a shower, God gave up His Life.
I heard it said once that God would rather die and go to hell than be in Heaven without you. Your parents may have messed up, but you are God’s Beloved Child. Imagine if everyone treated everyone like they were Divine Royalty? Would be a pretty nice place to live for everyone, right?
I didn’t buy the jacket that made my heart jump, but I did get the one that worked best for my kids. I’ll sport sticky hands and snot noses, pen-marked couches and fork-pocked table tops. Anything for the kids…
Stay tuned in the “Wild Kids, Wild God – 31 Days Looking into God’s Heart” series.
Want to hear more about God’s Love? Get a glimpse in “Pearl and Mother of Pearl, or “Wildly Loved, but Love Burns Hot”
or check out: “Before you were a Thought you were a Dream” or “The Day Before You Were Born“
