As I was sitting in Miller Chapel at Princeton Theological Seminary's "Carol of Many Nations" service (my favorite service of the year), I had an epiphany: God loves me at least as much as I love my teenage daughter.
Hopefully my girl will not read those words until she is old enough and mature enough to appreciate them. The mothers of teenagers reading this will get it immediately. Those past that stage as parents, will smirk a bit. Those not there yet are thinking to themselves (as I did) "oh, our daughter will never be like that."
Um, yes, just like we were (even if we have blocked out the memories) so will she be.
This is not a post complaining about my daughter, which is again why I hope she doesn't see this until she can understand that. This is a post reminding me to stop acting like a petulant teenager where God is concerned. He loves me (and you) unconditionally and deserves that kind of love right back. Maybe "deserves" is not the right word. Writers (perhaps especially writers) struggle with just the right word. In this case, I'm putting my feelings out there. The God I know wants to have a relationship with each of us and to treat each other with kindness.
There are plenty of times I ignore God. I don't want to hear what He wants from me. Change can be scary. Very scary. What if God wants me to go someplace scary like being around strangers? Much easier to stick my fingers in my ears and say "la la la la la la la." Right?
I do not profess to have the answers. I only profess to being open to hearing them from God. Pray for me on this journey.
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