i would choose *you*

The other night I tucked each child in, one by one, and told them all the same thing:

“If God lined up all the boys (or in the case of the Lady, all the girls) in the world, and told me to pick one for my own, I would pick *you*. Every time. I’m so glad I get to be your mama.”

Boy 1 exulted in this information. He hugged me with bone-crushing force and thanked me for telling him. (Have I mentioned that he is as tall as my shoulder these days? Probably not- I’m still in denial.)

Boy 3 was delighted by my love, smiling with that cocky grin of his, and even proclaimed, “You would choose ME!” before I could finish. I am smitten with that ball of passionate fire.

The Lady demurely accepted this information, hugged me, and suggested I go back and get her a sister or two. What can I say? The girl is secure, and a little too surrounded by boys.

Boy 2 eyed me a bit suspiciously as I spoke. Ah, my dubious boy. I will win you, too.

“If I wasn’t your son, how would you know it was me?” he asked, keenly criticizing my rosy proclamation.

“Well, I would look at each boy. I would think, ‘Hmmm, that one is nice…that one seems pretty great…I like him okay….’ And then when I saw you I would shout out, ‘That boy! I pick him!'” I explained.

“Did you say this to the Jude and Jase, too?” he questioned me with a cynical air.

“Yes,” I said. “I would choose Jude from all the nine year olds, and Jase from the six year olds, and Finley from the four year olds. No doubt about it.”

“But how would you know we were the ones?” he questioned me again.

“Because my heart was made to love you,” I said.

His skepticism was satisfied. He had pressed on my love, tested if it could hold up, and found it solid, sturdy, and trustworthy.

Isn’t this just the way it is for us with God’s love?

He calls us chosen and we squint up our faces and balk a little.

We point out our shortcomings and question His discernment. We try to earn our way into his good graces. We let what we feel about ourselves or our lives determine what we believe about who He is.

Most of us are too scared to push on His love very much. What would we do if it gave way and left us barren?

So we settle for the scraps that we think we deserve and we wait for heaven.

But Jesus said His Father gives good gifts to His children.

Jesus also said that if we are a part of who He is, then we are a part of who Father God is, too. He said that He loves us with the same love Father God has for His Son.

And the Father said He loved Jesus, and was well pleased with His Son.

God lovingly gave us His Son, and the Son lovingly laid down His life, to give us all he had of His Father’s love.

Push all you want on that kind of love. Jump on it like it’s a trampoline. Give it your best shot. It holds up every time.

Ask Him how He knows you are the one He loves. Listen closely and you will hear His answer. It will pour out of heaven like a spring rain.

“You were made to be loved by Me.”

He chooses *you*. Every time. No doubt about it.