shani4jc

My oldest daughter left this morning for Memphis, Tennessee for a class she needs to attend for her work.  Leaving was bittersweet for her. Although she knows she needs the class in order to continue advancing in her job, she was brokenhearted to leave her five month old son for the first time for this length of time.  She’s only going to be gone a couple of days, but to a mom of a baby, two days may as well be two months.  Of course, Nana and Pop are living up the chance to have the grandbaby all to ourselves for a couple of days.  But, I know all too well how my daughter feels.  I remember when she was a baby and I didn’t want to leave her for anything.  My husband finally talked me into leaving her when she was five months old with his parents just long enough to go to the post office to get stamps.  We made it to the stop sign at the end of the street before I burst into tears and he had to take me back to my baby.  People often told me that I would change when I had my second and then third child.  Nope…not me!  I was pretty much the same with all of them.  They are all grown now, but I still don’t like to be away from them for too long!  To say I love them is the understatement of the year!  I would give my life for them without a moment’s hesitation and sacrifice is a word that I truly didn’t grasp until I had them.  In fact, it is my relationship with my children that gives me the greatest insight into my relationship with God.  I cannot fathom giving one of my children up for someone I love, much less for my enemies.  I cannot comprehend ever turning my back on my child so that I don’t have to turn my back on those who hate me.  I cannot wrap my brain around any situation in which I would allow my child to die so people for the very people who are responsible for that child’s death.  Yet, this is exactly what God did for us!  He gave the greatest sacrifice this world has ever known by giving His Son!  He allowed Him to die, so that we could live!  He allowed Him to pay the debt of our sin, so that we could be free.  He forsook Jesus so that He would never have to forsake us!  Every single time I allow these truths to truly sink in to my heart, I am left humbled and in awe of Him.  I cannot possibly understand it, but I am so very grateful for it.  It’s hard to imagine that anyone loves my children more than me, but He does.  It’s hard to imagine that anyone could ever care more about their well-being than me, but He does.  It’s hard to imagine that anyone could ever forget my children or fail to have compassion on them, but His Word says I will do that before He forgets them.  Simply beyond my comprehension!

“Can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely, they may forget, but I will not forget you.  See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before Me.” Isaiah 49:15-16