I'm Hearing Voices!

Profound thoughts happen while in the bathroom.

Have you ever noticed this?  Tonight, while brushing my teeth, I began to hear voices.  But before you send over a squad from the local nuthouse, let me explain.

I noticed the new tube of toothpaste I had just set on the sink and could just imagine my three-year-old, Judah, asking as he cocked his head, “What?  You got a new one of these to clean your teeth with?”.  Next, I glanced over to the lion and frog hooded towels still damp from tonight’s bath and could hear the boy’s laughter as they debated between who’s turn it was to be the frog (most favorite) and who had to be the lion (again…somehow the LITTLE brother is the lion 99% of the time, hmm).  I smiled ruefully at the half empty Kleenex box as I heard my one-year-old, EvaLee, say oh-so-innocently, “Momma!?” when I walked in on her tissue-party the other day as Kleenexes floated like confetti through the air.  I also recalled that I didn’t smile at that moment!  

I paused in brushing, my mouth filling with toothpaste foam and my heart overflowing with memories.  I never fully realized that our children are everywhere.  They are a part of us and their unique take on life is tied into the things we see, the places we go…the person we view in the mirror.  The thought of anything ever happening to any one of them is truly more than a parent could ever bear…but when something really does and that parent is left with just their memories, they must forever see that precious child and hear his/her special take on life in EVERYTHING around them.  I think it’s as if there is a special spot in our heart for each child that ONLY that child fills, they are irreplaceable in every sense of the meaning.

This thought led me to another thought that made my eyes widen in wonder as I leaned over the bathroom sink and stared into the mirror.

Could this be true of our heavenly Father as well?

Could there be a spot in his heart that is uniquely designed for a relationship with us and ONLY us?

Does God look at a fuchsia colored flower and smile to recall that it’s my favorite color?  When he sees a friend of mine that I recently spent time with, does he chuckle at the memory of us putting tutus on our heads and posing for pictures at a children’s museum (What?!  Who would do something like that!?)?  When he sees a mistake I made, one that I would hang my head in sorrow at the memory of, does he feel a tender love towards me…knowing that in our weakness, we become aware in a greater way that we can’t do it alone, that we need HIM?

If we are designed in the image of God ("made in God's image" verse), then is it so far-fetched to believe that God is a parent like us in many ways…a parent madly in love with each of His children despite their failures and “quirks”?  A parent who loves each of us uniquely and longs for a relationship with us?  Is this why He left the 99 sheep to go after ONE (Story about Lost Sheep), because his heart has a hole carved out in it for each of us and only that ONE person can fill that child-shaped hole?

These questions lead to a final question for you, dear reader: Has the special spot in God’s heart designed for a relationship with you been filled yet?  And if not, what are you waiting for?  

It’s a free gift that is extended to us by the BEST Father in the universe...if you are that ONE in the 99, he is desperately seeking YOU.