At The End of the Day

One of my favorite things to hear from my children is "Mommy, I Love You." And the second is "Mommy, will you hold me?" With the Christmas holidays over and new toys littering every room in the house, we have played together more in the past 2 days as a family than all month combined! Joy is in the air as we celebrate God's sweet Gift of His Son Jesus. Sure, we have enjoyed the gift exchanges and playing with new things. An amazingly hilarious game of Uno had us rolling tonight!!
This holday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our family has made a conscious effort to keep our focus on Christ and not on ourselves. With the pressures of media temptations and peer pressures of endulging self, it hasn't been easy to keep Jesus in the big picture, but I feel we have done pretty good, much to the frustration of the kids who can't understand why they still can't have as they wish, as their friends do. A simple reminder of their Birth Date and who's Birth Date we are celebrating this week, and we are kinda re-focused. Oh, the war between heart and mind...giving and receiving...we live in such a Gimme, Gimme, Gimme time.
Playing all day, trying out new toys, waering new clothes and eating lots and lots of sugary delights have made for some fun memories and it has been fun and meaningful. But, at the end of the day, my most precious moment is when my child says, "Mommy, will you hold me?" I have many reasons why I could say No...I have things to do to shut down the house for the night, dog needs to be let out, emails checked, lights turned off, rooms picked up, dishes sorted, I need to get ready for bed, and on and on...but my heart is touched and I say Yes. How precious to be held close by one you love and who loves you.
For me as a Mom, after a full day of 4 kids which begins very early, I am ready for alone time but there is something refreshing about that little bit of cuddle time with one of them. We may read a book, talk, sing, dance, rock in the chair (for those under 5yrs old!)and we always pray. My heart melts, it is warmed. And it's like our hearts melt together as we cuddle. And then I wonder about God, and how He must treasure when we cuddle up to Him, setting aside all the distractions around us, and rest in His arms, His warm embrace. To be still and be held...to be accepted and loved. He is never too busy or too tired to hold me. Praise Him!!
After a full day of dancing, playing, praising, enjoying life, maybe even making some mistakes, how it must warm our Heavenly Father's heart to embrace His children at the end of the day. To stop and be still and rest. As I hold my child, I fill with joy, love and thanksgiving-my cup overflows. I gaze down in their sweet face and see joy, love and thanksgiving as they are embraced by me. We are both blessed.
I pray that as much as I can comprehend what love is by the love I experience with my own child, that the Lord would be blessed by my worship-not only during the times I dance, sing, act or serve on His behalf, but when I come to rest in worship, laying my head at His chest, feeling His peacful and warm embrace, that He would receive my love for Him and that I too, would accept and embrace His love for me, at the end of the day..."Father, I love You...Abba Daddy God, will you hold me?"

Thank You Lord that now matter what kind of day I have, whether full of joy or pain, busyness or laziness, that You are with me every step of the way. I thank You for accepting me on my good days and my bad days. There is nothing more special to me than resting in You at the end of my day. Lord, help me to love others around me like You do, give me Your eyes to see what You see. Help me encourage those who need it. Help me love those who seem unloveable.
Thank You Father for the Gift of Your Son in my life. I want to fully embrace Your love for me. Fill my cup overflowing so that those whom You bring into my life may see You and come to know You. Bind Satan from stealing my peace and my joy, my assurance and my strength, my security in You so that I may endure each new day's temptations and trials. Father, thank You for holding me and sometimes even carrying me along the path of life. My hearts melts with Yours as I rest in You. Thank You for receiving my love and for loving me as You do. Amen.