I carried her in my womb, carried her in my arms and held her by her hand.


I am falling more and more in love with my little Naomi. The more she develops and learns new things I can't help but fall in love. She is expressing herself and dialoging with us like never before. She builds small sentences and tells us what she wants and feels. It is so special to hear her try to have conversations with us even if we sometimes can't quite understand what she is saying. It has lead me to think this is how God feels about us as we grow and mature in our relationship with Him. I can't help but think about when I first learned how to pray! Things probably didn't make sense but God knew my heart and it pleased him that I spoke to him and initiated conversations with Him.

Naomi's vocabulary has also increased immensely. Of course, I have always told her "I love you" and she has learned to tell me the same after I tell her. BUT the other day she told me "I love you" all on her own, out of the blue and even proceeded to give me the sweetest hug. You can imagine how I felt..."I shuuu mommy"! I was left with a sense of awe because I am beginning to see that the love is mutual. Wow! Again...imagine how God must feel when his children express their love to their Heavenly father. And not just when things are right and we may feel good but out of the blue when he least expects it!

So obviously something inside her has driven her to express love and affection to me. My thought is that she is also getting to know me and my character. I carried her in my womb, carried her in my arms and held her by her hand. I have cared for and protected her for nearly 3 years (including pregnancy). I can't help but conclude that she has developed a confidence in who I am. Isn't it amazing! As we learn God's goodness and get to know His character our hearts grow closer to His and we allow Him to take a greater hold of our lives.

The greatest lesson I have learned from parenting is that disciplining a child is by far the greatest task. A task that you can't avoid if you truly love your child. It is not easy and we have began that challenge. Through the repetition and the consistency she is beginning to understand that it is all for her own good. And my hope and prayer is that she will move on to understand that because we love her we have to instruct her. Now there are times in our life we may not understand the pain or the suffering. Let me clarify that God causes neither of those, sin and evil are responsible. But what I can say is that God gives us the strength to see us through difficulties in our lives, therefore making us stronger and increasing our faith in the good and merciful God that He is. Our love for Him continues to grow as His love for us becomes more evident.


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